HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

House of Commons Chamber

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, what assessment has been made of the loop system for hearing aid users in the Chamber.

John Thurso: The loop system for hearing aid users in the House of Commons Chamber is subject to quarterly maintenance checks and an annual performance test, when output readings are taken around the Chamber. The system is working correctly and it meets the standards that were in place at the time of its installation in 1992. Nevertheless, the House authorities recognise that the performance of the system is not uniform throughout the Chamber. The Parliamentary Estates Directorate will shortly conduct a feasibility study as the first step in finding a better system. The Director of Accommodation and Logistics Services would be happy to discuss the hon. Member's concerns.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Contempt of Court: Social Networking

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General what assessment he has made of laws on contempt of court and their ability to address the challenges posed by social media.

Dominic Grieve: The legal framework applicable to the internet is fundamentally the same as that which applies elsewhere. A contempt published via social media remains a contempt. This was demonstrated in the case of Joanna Fraill a juror who, via the medium of the social media site, Facebook, and in contravention of section 8 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981, disclosed details of the jury's deliberations. Ms Fraill subsequently admitted the contempt and was imprisoned by the Divisional Court.
	The Law Commission is currently undertaking a review of the law of contempt. In November the Commission published a consultation paper outlining their findings and proposals for reform. Specifically considered within the consultation was the issue of contempt and social media. The Commission's consultation has now closed and we await with interest their final conclusions and recommendations.

Crown Prosecution Service

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how frequently the accounts of the Crown Prosecution Service's regional divisions are audited (a) internally and (b) externally.

Oliver Heald: The regional divisions of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) do not produce accounts. However, the central finance team compiles national management accounts each month and publishes a monthly financial management report for all individual areas, casework divisions and headquarters directorates. Local managers use these reports to manage budgets and expenditure and as a basis to investigate variances.
	Neither the CPS's internal audit team nor the National Audit Office (NAO) specifically audit the monthly management accounts.
	The CPS has a comprehensive system of prescribed financial checks and controls in place, which include the requirement for managers to perform regular, proportionate, management checks on financial transactions. The controls and processes are subject to annual NAO audit and periodic internal audit agreed with the Audit and Risk Committee chaired by an independent non-executive board member. These controls are supported by relevant and up-to-date guidance detailing the CPS accounting procedures, controls and systems, which is available on the CPS intranet.
	CPS internal audit carries out routine checks to assure financial regularity and propriety at a national level, and a sample of payments is reviewed every year to confirm key controls are in place and operating as intended.
	CPS transactions are also subject to the usual NAO annual review as part of the certification process for the statutory accounts.

Crown Prosecution Service: West Midlands

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many taxi journeys were billed to the Crown Prosecution Service West Midlands in the last four years; and how regularly such claims were audited.

Oliver Heald: It is not possible to separately identify the number of taxi journeys billed to the Crown Prosecution Service West Midlands. To provide this information would involve checking very large numbers of paper claim forms and would incur disproportionate costs.
	The CPS has a comprehensive system of prescribed financial checks and controls in place, which include the requirement for managers to perform regular, proportionate, management checks on financial transactions. The controls and processes are subject to annual NAO audit and periodic internal audit agreed with the Audit and Risk Committee chaired by an independent non-executive board member. These controls are supported by relevant and up-to-date guidance detailing the CPS’ accounting procedures, controls and systems, which is available on the CPS intranet.
	CPS internal audit carries out routine checks to assure financial regularity and propriety at a national level, and a sample of payments is reviewed every year to confirm key controls are in place and operating as intended. Over the past four years, these payment samples have tested claims for travel (including taxis) from witnesses.
	CPS transactions are also subject to the usual NAO annual review as part of the certification process for the statutory accounts.

Serious Fraud Office: Legal Costs

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General what hourly rate the Serious Fraud Office is being charged for the services of Slaughter and May to defend the Tchenguiz damages claim; and what estimate he has made of the comparative cost of Treasury solicitors.

Dominic Grieve: The Tchenguiz brothers' damages claim is being heard by a Commercial Court judge. The Serious Fraud Office decided that it should reconfigure its legal team to provide the most appropriate expertise necessary to defend this claim, which is currently put at approximately £300 million. This has included instructing solicitors and counsel with specialist commercial law practices, and the SFO appointed Slaughter and May after a short procurement exercise on the basis that they offered best value. Treasury Solicitors, who have a particular expertise in handling government litigation, continue to be instructed.
	The SFO are being charged the rates recently agreed with Slaughter and May when it was admitted to the Government's panel of external providers of legal services following a competitive procurement exercise. The rates themselves are commercially confidential. At the conclusion of the case, the SFO will put into the public domain the amount it will have spent on it, including on legal fees.

Witnesses

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General what proportion of witness travel expenses charged to the Crown Prosecution Service in each of the last four years was spent on taxis.

Oliver Heald: It is not possible to separately identify the proportion of witness travel expenses spent on taxi journeys for witnesses from centrally held records. To provide this information would involve checking very large numbers of paper claim forms and would incur disproportionate costs.

Witnesses

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many taxi journeys for witnesses were billed to the Crown Prosecution Service in each region in each year since 2010.

Oliver Heald: It is not possible to separately identify the number of taxi journeys for witnesses from centrally held records. To provide this information would involve checking very large numbers of paper claim forms and would incur disproportionate costs.

TRANSPORT

Crossrail Line: Stansted Airport

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 28 February 2013, Official Report, column 460, on Stansted airport, if he intends to discuss with the new owners of Stansted airport the extension of Crossrail to Stansted.

Simon Burns: Under devolution, the Mayor is responsible for transport in London and for deciding how to spend Transport for London's budget, including on projects such as Crossrail.
	However, I have no doubt that the Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Mr McLoughlin) would be happy to discuss any relevant transport issues that the new owners of Stansted airport might raise when they next meet.

Croydon Tramlink

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received from the Mayor of London on funding for an extension of the Croydon tram to Crystal Palace since May 2012; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: Any decision to extend the Croydon tramlink to Crystal Palace would be for the Mayor and Transport for London, who would also need to ensure funding was in place for such a scheme.
	Since May 2012, the Mayor has made no representations to the Secretary of State regarding the Croydon tramlink.

Driving Under Influence: Drugs

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the potential effect of legislative proposals on drug driving on the ability of patients taking long-term prescription medication to manage chronic pain to drive on a regular basis; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment his Department has made of the statutory defence included in proposed drug driving legislation relating to drivers who have taken medicines containing specified controlled drugs in accordance with medical advice; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement I made on drug driving on 7 March 2013.

Driving Under Influence: Drugs

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport with reference to clause 37 of the Crime and Courts Bill, 
	(1)  when he expects to receive the report of the advisory panel of experts on the (a) level and (b) type of drug required to be in the bloodstream,
	(2)  when he expects to receive the report on the advisory panel of experts regarding the (a) level of and (b) type of drug in blood in relation to the proposal in clause 37 of the Crime and Courts Bill.

Stephen Hammond: I refer the right hon. Member to the written ministerial statement I made on drug driving on 7 March 2013.

Driving Under Influence: Drugs

Linda Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what meetings (a) he, (b) his Ministers and (c) officials of his Department have had with other Departments to discuss the effect of proposed drug driving legislation on patients taking prescribed medication to manage chronic pain.

Stephen Hammond: Ministers and officials regularly meet with the Home Office, Ministry of Justice and Department of Health to discuss the effect of proposed drug driving legislation on patients taking medication. This issue was also recently discussed at the Inter Ministerial Group on Drugs on 10 January 2013, which comprises all the key Government Departments responsible for implementing the drug strategy.

Great Western Railway Line

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent conversations he has had with (a) the West of England Partnership, (b) Passenger Focus, (c) local authorities in the south west and (d) other stakeholders on the Great Western franchise concession.

Simon Burns: Since 31 January 2013, departmental officials have spoken to all local authorities served by the franchise.
	They have since met with Wiltshire county council to discuss the TransWilts Rail project, and with West of England Partnership to discuss the Bristol Metro project.
	A meeting is planned with councils and passenger groups in West Berkshire and Wiltshire to discuss electrification. We will be meeting authorities again after the announcement on the franchise programme has been made in the spring.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department is taking to seek to ensure that High Speed 2 will be constructed using British materials and British workers.

Simon Burns: The Government's National Infrastructure Plan makes clear the importance of a predictable and transparent pipeline of infrastructure projects, which helps British companies gear up for and respond to opportunities. HS2 forms a key element of that long-term pipeline.
	As the HS2 project moves forward, the Government will do all it can to ensure that companies with a British presence are well placed to compete for future contracts.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the total carbon emissions that will result from the construction of High Speed 2.

Simon Burns: Early work in the 2011 Appraisal of Sustainability for Phase One of HS2 estimated that the carbon generated from construction is within a range between 0.29 and 2.12 MtCO2e (million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent). This estimate is based on the carbon intensity of materials and the wide range reflects the uncertainty about factors such as construction methods at an early stage in a project's development. A further assessment is being undertaken and will be made available in spring 2013 as part of the draft Environmental Statement.
	The carbon footprint for Phase Two will be included in its Appraisal of Sustainability which will form part of the consultation on the Phase Two preferred route planned for later this year.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the potential reductions in carbon emissions from (a) non-high speed trains, (b) domestic air travel and (c) cars as a result of High Speed 2.

Simon Burns: Appendix 2 of the 2011 HS2 Appraisal of Sustainability (AOS) contains initial estimates of the effect of HS2 on carbon emissions from non-high speed trains, domestic air travel and cars as a result of HS2. The AOS is available at
	www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
	For phase two, the results of the most up to date carbon assessment are due to be published in the Appraisal of Sustainability of Phase Two later this year.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his most recent estimate is of the (a) capital and (b) running costs of (i) High Speed 2 Phase 1 and (ii) High Speed 2 Phase 2 in respect of (A) rolling stock, (B) track, signalling and other infrastructure and (C) other costs.

Simon Burns: In answer to his question about the latest estimate of capital construction costs of HS2, I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 1 February 2013, Official Report, columns 1006-07W, to my right hon. Friend the Member for Chesham and Amersham (Mrs Gillan).
	On operational costs of the line, including rolling stock, the latest information is provided in the appraisal spreadsheets used for the August 2012 update of the HS2 Economic Case. These are available from the HS2 Ltd website:
	http://www.hs2.org.uk/news-resources/publications/economic-documents
	The Economic Case will continue to be updated as development of the project progresses.

Roads: Snow and Ice

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether salt has been imported from (a) Morocco and (b) Western Sahara for use in de-icing roads.

Norman Baker: The Government purchased and imported road salt in late 2010 for a strategic salt stockpile from a number of overseas countries. None of this road salt was imported from either (a) Morocco, or (b) Western Sahara.
	The Highways Agency is responsible for de-icing roads on the motorway and strategic road network in England. The agency does not purchase its salt directly for operational use as this is the responsibility of its contracted service providers, as part of their routine requirement to deliver winter service. Consequently the Highways Agency does not keep records on where its service providers have purchased salt from and cannot therefore confirm if any salt from Morocco and Western Sahara has been purchased.
	Local Highway Authorities are responsible for de-icing local roads and they are also responsible for procuring their own salt supplies. On this basis the Department for Transport does not keep a central record of where the salt they have purchased is from.

Sentencing

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish an estimate of the number of people who will serve (a) community sentences and (b) custodial sentences under clause 37 of the Crime and Courts Bill in the event of that Bill receiving Royal Assent.

Stephen Hammond: In undertaking the impact assessment for the new offence of drug driving we estimate that each year approximately (a) 1,694 people will receive a community order sentence and (b) 279 people will serve a custodial sentence once the provisions are in force.

CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

Pilgrimage of Prayer: Canterbury

David Nuttall: To ask the hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners, what reports the Church Commissioners have received of the Archbishop of Canterbury's plan for a pilgrimage of prayer around the province of Canterbury.

Tony Baldry: Prior to the formal commencement of his public ministry and enthronement in Canterbury Cathedral on 21 March 2013, Archbishop Justin intends to tour parts of the Province of Canterbury to meet its people and visit its diverse communities.
	From 14 March to 19 March he will visit five cities and six cathedrals. Everyone is welcome to join the journey in prayer at any point during his pilgrimage.

Women Bishops

Diana Johnson: To ask the hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners, what assessment the Church Commissioners have made of the proposals contained in the General Synod document "Women in the episcopate: a new way forward".

Tony Baldry: As I am sure the hon. Lady is aware there have been a few developments since I last updated the House.
	The initial facilitated discussions have been completed and the consultation stage on a new document has just closed.
	The working group met earlier this week to consider the 376 submissions which have been received and meets again later this month.
	The intention as I have mentioned to the House before is to have the House of Bishops give consideration to the results from the wording group when they next meet in May.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Asbestos

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to reduce the health risks caused by asbestos.

Mark Hoban: Government policy on reducing health risks from asbestos is based on preventing exposure to asbestos or, where this cannot be easily achieved, by reducing exposure to levels that are as low as reasonably practicable. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is responsible for implementing this policy through the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR 2012). Preventing exposure to asbestos at work is, and will continue to be, a priority for HSE. The majority of work involving removal of asbestos can only be carried out by contractors licensed by HSE.
	In addition, when visiting employers as part of any relevant intervention, HSE inspectors actively explore compliance with CAR 2012 with non-domestic building owners and occupiers, who have a duty to manage risks from any asbestos in their premises.
	HSE also works closely with stakeholders and partners to raise awareness of the dangers of asbestos and encourage trades people to access appropriate training.
	HSE is currently carrying out research to inform the development of a campaign to ensure that at-risk workers are aware of the dangers posed by asbestos and understand how they can protect themselves. This research will help with the creation of plans for campaign activity to be delivered in 2013-14, which will seek to change the behaviour of trades people who may be at risk.

Electronic Government

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether use of Universal Job Match is intended to be compulsory for those in receipt of jobseeker's allowance.

Mark Hoban: Universal Jobmatch is a valuable tool for helping jobseekers find work so we expect that the majority of claimants who are genuinely looking for work will want to willingly use the service themselves. Where this is not the case and where appropriate we may require some jobseeker's allowance (JSA) claimants to create a profile and public CV in Universal Jobmatch. In addition to this, JSA claimants must do all that can be reasonably expected of them to find work and must apply for any jobs that an adviser deems suitable. Universal Jobmatch will provide access to a wide range of vacancies, so using the service will be an important part of actively seeking work.
	If after the Jobcentre Plus adviser has explained the benefits of the service to them and they still refuse to use Universal Jobmatch, the adviser may then consider whether it is reasonable to issue a Jobseeker's Direction to mandate them to register on Universal Jobmatch. Before issuing a Jobseeker's Direction the adviser will take into account their circumstances, including whether they have access to the internet. Jobseeker's Directions require jobseeker's allowance (JSA) claimants to take specific actions which will help them to find work, and failure to do so without good reason may result in a benefit sanction being applied.

Employers' Liability

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress his Department has made in implementing the proposals in the Government's response to the consultation on Accessing compensation — Supporting people who need to trace Employers' Liability Insurance, published in July 2012.

Mark Hoban: The insurance industry has already set up an Employers Liability Tracing Office (ELTO) that maintains a comprehensive electronic database of all new and renewed employer liability (EL) policies, old EL policies that have a new claim made against them, and all successful traces. To date more than 99% of the active EL insurance market has joined ELTO.
	We are currently working up the details for a scheme where we propose to make payments to people diagnosed from 25 July 2012 with diffuse mesothelioma, as a result of their negligent exposure to asbestos at work and who are unable to trace their liable employer or their employer's insurance policy to claim against.
	These proposals require primary legislation and we hope to introduce a Bill as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the projected annual savings to the public purse as a result of the reduction in housing benefit payments due to the operation of the under-occupancy penalty.

Steve Webb: We estimate that the removal of the spare room subsidy will save around £500 million per year in housing benefit expenditure.
	Estimates of the savings are available in the Impact Assessment.
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/social-sector-housing-under-occupation-wr2011-ia.pdf

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what estimate his Department has made of the number of bedrooms in the social rented sector considered to be spare;
	(2)  what estimate his Department has made of the number of under-occupied local authority or social rented properties.

Steve Webb: The Department estimates that there are around 660,000 working age housing benefit claimants in social rented accommodation who will be affected by the removal of the spare room subsidy and that there are around 820,000 spare bedrooms among this affected group.
	Estimates of the number of local authority and housing association claimants affected by the removal of the spare room subsidy are available in the Impact Assessment:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/social-sector-housing-under-occupation-wr2011-ia.pdf
	Information on under-occupation for the social rented sector as a whole is not readily available from this Department's data. Estimates from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) suggest that there are around 1,496,000 households with one or more bedrooms above the bedroom standard in the social rented sector in England. The same data suggests that there could be at least 1,881,000 additional bedrooms above the notional number needed according to the bedroom standard definition in the social rented sector in England.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance his Department has issued to Jobcentre Plus advisers about clients on jobseeker's allowance who are also elected councillors.

Mark Hoban: There is no specific guidance issued to Jobcentre advisers about claimants who are also elected councillors. However, guidance is available for Department for Work and Pensions staff who process jobseeker's allowance (JSA) payments to claimants who are also elected councillors. This guidance is reviewed annually to ensure it remains accurate. Guidance is also available for Department for Work and Pensions Decision Makers.
	Claimants are not considered to be in remunerative work for the time spent undertaking their duties as a councillor. They are still expected to comply with JSA conditionality, including being available for and actively seeking work of at least 40 hours a week.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many new applicants for jobseeker's allowance have been restricted to online application for that allowance in each month since June 2012.

Mark Hoban: While the Department's online service for jobseekers allowance encourages everyone who can use our digital services independently to do so, people who are unable to use our online application service have a telephony channel available to make their claim, therefore no restriction is applied.

Pension Funds

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to stop pension fund liabilities preventing reorganisations or mergers of charities; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Webb: I introduced regulations last year to provide additional easements in relation to pension fund liabilities for employers, including charities, that are restructuring or merging. These allow for the pension liabilities of a departing employer to be apportioned to another employer remaining in the scheme, removing the need for payment of the employer debt.
	In relation to pension liabilities, charities have the same responsibilities as other employers. Where they have promised benefits to pension scheme members, they are required to set aside sufficient funds to honour those promises.
	I am aware of concerns about the impact of pension liabilities on the charitable sector. DWP and Cabinet Office officials are looking at the issues in discussion with sector representatives.

Pensions

Richard Shepherd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many citizens of EU member states other than the UK and Ireland receive pensions in the UK;
	(2)  how many citizens of each EU member state receive pensions in the UK;
	(3)  how many UK citizens receive their pension in EU member states other than the UK and Ireland;
	(4)  if he will make a comparative assessment of the number of non-national EU citizens receiving their pension in the UK and the numbers of non-nationals receiving pensions in other EU member states.

Steve Webb: Statistics on the nationality (or citizenship) of state pension recipients is not available. The award of UK state pension is normally made on the basis of contributions that have been paid by or credited to the individual.

Pensions

Richard Shepherd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a comparative assessment of the effect of retirement age regulations in different EU member states on the amount pensioners receive.

Steve Webb: The EU social security coordination rules (Regulation (EC) No. 883/04) make provision for any person who is entitled to pensions from different member states of the EU, to make a claim in accordance with the pension ages set by each member state pension system.
	Therefore a person can claim their different pensions at different times. The pension they receive from each member state will only reflect the insurance they have had in that member state. Each state will therefore pay a proportion of the total pension, based on the insurance paid, and at the pension age in that state. Thus, a person who had contributed for different periods in three member states could receive 30% of their pension from one state at the age of 65; 40% from another at the age of 66; and 30% from the third state at the age of 67.

Pensions

Richard Shepherd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost is of (a) administering the inter-country pension calculation and (b) preparation of the P1 document for the UK.

Steve Webb: To provide an accurate figure on inter-country pension calculations would involve disproportionate cost, as inter-country (or pro-rata) costs are within the administrative costs allocated to the Pensions Service and is not separately available.
	On question (b) at present International Pension Centre do not use P1 forms, so no data are available regarding preparation costs.

Pensions

Richard Shepherd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what effects the proposed single tier pension will have on the EU pension system.

Steve Webb: Within the EEA, social security arrangements remain the responsibility of individual member states. All current EEA countries operate pension schemes based on contributory or residency based qualification conditions. There is no single EU pension system. The proposed single-tier pension will be compatible with the pensions systems which operate across the EEA.

State Retirement Pensions

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make it his policy that proportionate state pension payments can be awarded to pensioners reaching retirement age on a day other than their designated payment date as assigned by their national insurance number in order to ensure that newly-retired pensioners are not penalised.

Steve Webb: Payment of state pension starts from the first full benefit week that follows the date a person reaches state pension age. State pension is paid in full weeks and this means that for most people there will be a gap between their birthday (when they reach pension age) and the day they receive their first payment of pension. The gap could be anything between one and six days, depending on the person's birthday and their benefit payday.
	If a person's birthday happens to fall on the same day of the week as the first day of their benefit week, there is no gap between that birthday and the first day for which payment is due. For most other people, there will be. However, because we make pension payments in complete weeks, there are no part-week payments at the end of a claim either, when a full week's benefit is also paid and thus the system balances itself out.
	There are administrative costs associated with making part-week payments and it is important that we continue to deliver the Department's service as cost effectively as possible. If we made part-week payments at the commencement of a claim then logically we should seek to recover any days' overpayment at the end and this would be at a cost to the Department, as well as causing distress to families.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Frank Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effect of the Government's white paper on the single tier pension for women who were born between 6 April 1952 and 6 July 1953.

Steve Webb: The single-tier pension will be implemented in April 2017 at the earliest. Only individuals who reach their state pension age after implementation will be eligible for a single-tier pension. Therefore, all men and women who reach state pension age before the implementation of single tier, including women born between 6 April 1952 and 5 July 1953, will receive a state pension in line with existing rules. The Government will publish an analysis of the state pension outcomes of the cohort of women born between 6 April 1952 and 5 July 1953 shortly.

Universal Credit

Mark Reckless: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to reform the provision of exempt accommodation for the purposes of universal credit.

Steve Webb: Our July 2011 consultation paper, Housing Benefit Reform—Supported Housing (Cm 8152), set out the reasons and objectives for reforming housing benefit for those living in what is defined in legislation as “exempt accommodation”. The Secretary of State announced at the Work and Pensions Select Committee hearing on 17 September last year his intention that help with housing costs for those living in supported exempt accommodation would be provided outside universal credit.

Universal Credit

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent discussions he has had with charities regarding online applications for universal credit.

Mark Hoban: We are in continuing discussions with a wide range of charities and other organisations about online applications for universal credit.
	The Universal Credit Local Support Services Framework, produced collaboratively between DWP and local authorities, sets out the principles for providing support through a network of local services, including support for those who need help with making online applications, and invites views from charities and other organisations.

Work Programme

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what proportion of people placed in work under the Work programme qualify for tax credits;
	(2)  what proportion of placements under the Work programme are in jobs paying less than the living wage;
	(3)  what proportion of placements under the Work programme are in jobs of 30 hours per week or less;
	(4)  what proportion of placements under the Work programme are in jobs paying the minimum wage;
	(5)  what proportion of placements under the Work programme are in jobs of 20 hours per week or less.

Mark Hoban: The Work programme is not a work placement scheme. Work programme providers offer a range of support to help participants into jobs and to sustain employment.
	The information requested therefore is not available.

Work Programme

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what adaptations contract providers to the Work programme give for (a) the visually impaired, (b) the hearing impaired, (c) those with physical disability and (d) those with mental health disability.

Mark Hoban: The Department does not specify what adaptations Work programme providers must make for participants who have different impairments or disabilities. The Work programme is designed to give providers the flexibility to design personalised approaches to help each individual participant back to work.
	Work programme providers are expected to use their skills, knowledge and expertise to achieve positive outcomes for all their participants. If providers cannot deliver all the support required in-house, we expect them to engage with appropriate specialist organisations.

Work Programme

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the Work Programme referrals and attachments data will be published; and when outcomes figures will next be released.

Mark Hoban: From November 2012 the next release of official statistics on work programme referrals and attachments has changed and will now align with the release of official statistics on job outcomes. This change was announced alongside the first release of job outcome statistics on 27 November 2012 when users were informed that future releases of referrals, attachments and outcomes would be aligned, initially on a six monthly basis, and the scope and need to produce more frequent statistics would be reviewed.
	The next release of work programme statistics will be in May 2013. The future release frequency is under review, and we aim to release complete end of year figures (to the end of March 2013) sooner than November 2013.
	When a final date has been decided it will be announced on the ONS release calendar found via this link:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/hub/release-calendar/index.html
	and the work programme landing page:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=wp
	The provisional release date for referral and attachment official statistics of February to March 2013 on the ONS release calendar has been updated to reflect this change.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Council Tax

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether it is possible for a local authority to apply for a central Government grant which facilitates the non-payment of council tax.

Brandon Lewis: The Department for Communities and Local Government announced on 16 October 2012 additional funding for one year to support local authorities in developing well-designed council tax support schemes that protect the most vulnerable and maintain positive incentives to work.
	The transitional grant will be payable in April 2013 to those billing authorities who confirmed that their scheme complied with three criteria, namely: those currently on 100% support should be required to pay no more than 8.5% of their liability; the taper rate—the rate at which support is withdrawn when people enter work—would not increase above 25%; and there would be no sharp reduction in support for those entering work.
	Birmingham city council did not claim the grant. They would have received £2,129,441 if they had agreed a local scheme that met its criteria.

Council Tax

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what (a) guidance he has issued to and (b) discussions he has had with local authorities on reversing a decision to charge council tax to people receiving jobseeker's allowance.

Brandon Lewis: Under the new system of local council tax support, a billing authority should review its local support scheme each year.

Fire Services

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether it is his intention that fire authorities will be allowed to mutualise their services without the independently verifiable support of a clear majority of their frontline workforce.

Brandon Lewis: As outlined in my answer of 5 March 2013, Official Report, column 931W, at this stage, the Government is working with Cleveland fire authority to support their bid for a local, employee-led mutual. Employees at Cleveland fire brigade have already shown their entrepreneurial drive by setting up a social enterprise which provides fire prevention services to businesses and uses the profits to fund fire prevention work in the community. More information can be found at:
	www.gov.uk/government/news/95-000-boost-for-cleveland-fire-service-s-bid-to-mutualise
	Public service mutuals are organisations with a high degree of employee control, but it will be for each local authority and fledgling mutual to determine how best to engage with the relevant work force. I note these issues were discussed in the recent publication by the Co-operative party (“Towards co-operative councils: empowering people to change their lives”, February 2013), which was endorsed by the Leader of the Opposition.
	Further information on employee engagement can also be found on the Mutuals Information Service:
	http://mutuals.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/

Local Government Finance

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance he gives local authorities in England and Wales on the reasonable level of reserves held by them.

Brandon Lewis: holding answer 5 March 2013
	There is no prescriptive national guidance that specifies a minimum or maximum level of reserves. Rather, councils should determine the optimal level as part of their wider local financial planning. Any guidance for local authorities in Wales on this issue is a matter for the Welsh Government.
	In December, we published the best practice document, “50 ways to save”, which recommended:
	“Utilise £16 billion of reserves creatively: Councils are sitting on £4.1 billion of unallocated (non-school) financial reserves and a further £12.4 billion of earmarked non-school reserves. Many 'earmarked' reserves do not actually have a proper purpose. Make creative use of reserves to address short-term costs, such as restructuring or investing now to realise savings in the longer-term (e.g. 'invest to save' projects). For example, West Lindsey District Council is considering investing £1 million from its reserves to support growth in three market towns in its area.”

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Electricity

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what plans he has to assess the success of his Department's electricity market reform.

John Hayes: Clause 50 of the Energy Bill commits the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey) to review electricity market reform (EMR) five years after Royal Assent, and to report the conclusions to Parliament.
	The Department has also committed to report annually on progress against the EMR Delivery Plan. We are currently considering a number of indicators and data sources that could be used to report progress against EMR objectives, and will provide more detail on our plans for annual updates in the first Delivery Plan later this year.

Energy: Billing

Dan Byles: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he plans to bring forward amendments to the Energy Bill to cap the costs paid by customers for the Energy Company Obligation.

Gregory Barker: The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) is a requirement on major energy suppliers to meet certain energy efficiency targets. Whether and how they pass the costs of achieving those targets onto customers is a matter for them. The Government has no plans to introduce amendments to the Energy Bill to cap the costs.

Fuel Cells

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the economic, scientific and carbon abatement potential of direct carbon fuel cell technology.

Gregory Barker: The Department has not carried out an assessment of direct carbon fuel cell technology. We do however continue to monitor developments of a wide range of emerging technologies.

Fuel Poverty: Rural Areas

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the effect of fuel poverty on rural communities.

Gregory Barker: DECC publishes an Annual Report on Fuel Poverty which sets out analysis of the characteristics of those in fuel poverty, including those living in rural areas. This report also looks at the impact of the drivers of fuel poverty, including changes in prices. The latest report is available online at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/66016/5270-annual-report-fuel-poverty-stats-2012.pdf
	The Government is committed to addressing the needs of rural households, especially those on low incomes. Such households can receive support under a number of different policies. This includes the warm home discount scheme, which provides rebates on electricity bills. We also provide energy efficiency help for low income households through the Energy Company Obligation (ECO). Within the ECO, 15% of the support delivered under the Carbon Saving Communities Obligation is ring-fenced for rural areas.

Radioactive Waste Management Committee

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the reasons were for changing the terms of reference of the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management resulting in the end of plenary sessions of that committee being held in public; and whether individual members of that committee were consulted over this change in the terms of references.

John Hayes: Following the appointment of new members in November 2012, the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) has taken the opportunity to review its terms of reference, in consultation with its sponsors (the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the devolved Administrations). This review, now nearing completion, considered whether plenary meetings open to the public should remain a feature of the Committee's stakeholder engagement activities. CoRWM concluded and sponsors agreed that given the very low attendance by members of the public in recent years, such meetings no longer offered value for money.
	CoRWM remains committed to working in an open, transparent and consultative way. In order to inform stakeholders of its work, the Committee will continue to make use of its website and regular e-bulletins and will publish notes of all plenary meetings, bi-lateral meetings and open plenary papers.
	The revised terms of reference will be finalised shortly and will be published on the CoRWM website at:
	http://corwm.decc.gov.uk/

Tidal Power

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the responses of local communities on consultation of proposals for tidal energy projects.

Gregory Barker: Where applications have been made for consent for tidal energy devices, we have considered representations from local communities and other interested parties before determining those applications.

Warm Home Discount Scheme

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many Warm Home Discount Scheme applications he received from vulnerable person claimants who are not automatically eligible by the end of (a) October 2012, (b) November 2012, (c) December 2012, (d) January 2013, (e) February 2013 and (f) March 2013; and how many claimants received payments over the same periods.

Gregory Barker: In 2012-13, year two of the Warm Home Discount, 1.08 million customers received a discount on their electricity bills automatically by 31 December 2012 under the Core Group element of the scheme. These customers were provided the discount as a result of automatic data matching between DWP and the participating energy suppliers.
	Customers who were potentially eligible, but could not be matched automatically, were sent a letter by mid-January 2013 asking them to contact the Warm Home Discount scheme helpline in order to claim. The cumulative number of successful claims by the dates below were:
	(a) 25 October: 9,314
	(b) 29 November: 24,822
	(c) 27 December: 38,669
	(d) 31 January: 66,316
	(e) 28 February: 75,138
	Customers who have received a letter asking them to contact the helpline have until 13 March to make a claim. All discounts should be credited to customers' electricity bills by 31 March 2013. There have been over 13,300 callers to the helpline found to be ineligible.
	Claims for the Broader Group element of the scheme are made directly to participating energy suppliers. Ofgem will publish an annual report on year two of the Warm Home Discount, including the number of Broader Group discounts made, in October 2013.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate his Department has made of the cost of withdrawal of British military forces and equipment from Afghanistan.

Andrew Robathan: The Ministry of Defence is still in the process of determining what pieces of equipment and materiel should be repatriated from Afghanistan and by what means. We are therefore currently unable to give an accurate estimate for the cost of withdrawal from Afghanistan. Equipment will only be repatriated where to do so represents the best value way to meet an enduring military requirement. We will seek the most cost-effective solution to repatriating both military personnel and equipment, whilst balancing this alongside logistical and military considerations on the ground.

Armed Forces: Dogs

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many army sniffer dogs have been injured whilst on duty in the last five years.

Mark Francois: Army detection dogs provide an important and valuable service, working with their handlers, to search for items and substances such as, arms, ammunition, drugs and explosives and can also be trained to track or detect human scent. Detection dogs have played a significant role in counter-improvised explosive device work during Operations Herrick and Telic, reducing human injuries and fatalities.
	Information on the number of detection dogs injured while on duty over the last five years is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, since May 2011 we have received five reports of military detection dogs being significantly injured in the course of their duties.

Armed Forces: Dogs

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the armed forces have received injuries from dogs whilst in the line of duty in the last three years.

Mark Francois: For the period 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2012, the last dates for which data is available, 50 UK armed forces personnel are recorded as having received injuries caused by dogs while in the line of duty.
	Within the same period, a further 1,143 UK armed forces personnel have been recorded as having received an injury caused by a dog. The duty status of these personnel at the time of the incident is unknown.

Armed Forces: Homosexuality

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many openly gay people are currently serving in the (a) regular and (b) reserve armed forces.

Mark Francois: holding answer 12 February 2013
	The Ministry of Defence gathers data on sexual orientation on a voluntary basis during phase 1 and 2 training using the Recruit Trainee Survey (RTS). It is our intention to extend monitoring in the future using the Joint Personnel Administration system to enable armed forces personnel to record their sexual orientation, should they wish to do so.
	The following tables provide a record of the data collected at all phase 1 and 2 training establishments over the last 12 months for Royal Navy ratings, soldiers, and airmen using the RTS. Personnel completing the confidential survey are, of course, entirely free to classify themselves as they wish, and those describing themselves as gay will be open, or not, with their sexuality to varying degrees. Data are collected in a similar way for officers using the Officer Cadet Survey; however, sample size for this cohort is low and not yet sufficiently mature to be considered statistically robust.
	
		
			 Armed forces RTS Phase 1 training 
			  Males Females 
			  Percentage Number Percentage Number 
			 Heterosexual/straight 96.0 8,770 83.4 736 
			 Gay man 0.7 67 0.6 5 
			 Gay woman/lesbian 0.1 7 8.2 72 
			 Bisexual 0.6 52 5.3 47 
			 Do not know 0.8 73 0.6 5 
			 Prefer not to say 1.8 167 2.0 18 
		
	
	
		
			 Armed forces RTS Phase 2 training 
			  Males Females 
			  Percentage Number Percentage Number 
			 Heterosexual/straight 95.5 4,812 80.6 512 
			 Gay man 1.0 48 0.6 4 
			 Gay woman/lesbian 0.2 10 9.6 61 
			 Bisexual 0.6 30 3.9 25 
			 Do not know 0.8 42 0.9 6 
			 Prefer not to say 1.9 98 4.3 27

Armed Forces: Horses

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many military horses have been put down in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many horses are maintained by the armed forces.

Mark Francois: Military working animals play an important role working alongside our armed forces. Horses are used for ceremonial purposes throughout the year, such as Changing the Guard, and at annual events such as Trooping the Colour and the State Opening of Parliament. This forms an important part of our national heritage and helps to raise the profile of our armed forces. As at 1 March 2013, there were 494 military working horses maintained by the armed forces.
	The Ministry of Defence policy is to re-home all military working horses at the end of their service life wherever practicable. Regrettably, however, there are occasions when military working horses have to be put down. This action is only ever taken as a last resort, where it is judged unsafe to re-home the animal or for veterinary reasons.
	Between the period January 2008 to December 2012 the following table shows the number of horses that have been put down.
	
		
			  Number 
			 2008 20 
			 2009 12 
		
	
	
		
			 2010 18 
			 2011 28 
			 2012 26

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many visits the armed forces made to (a) state secondary schools, (b) independent schools and (c) colleges in (i) Scotland, (ii) Wales, (iii) England and (iv) Northern Ireland in 2011-12.

Mark Francois: This information is not held in the format requested. A breakdown of visits by geographical area is being compiled, but will take some time. I will write to the hon. Member once the information has been collated.

Armed Forces: Retirement

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will ensure that under the Public Services Pensions Bill Ministry of Defence fire and police service personnel have the same retirement age as that of other uniformed services.

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to make the retirement age for the Ministry of Defence police the same as other police officers in the uniformed services; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: Both the Ministry of Defence police and fire service personnel are long-standing participants in the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme and are currently subject to the terms of that scheme including retirement age. We would see that remaining the case.
	The Public Service Pensions Bill currently progressing through Parliament will set the legislative framework for the future of public service pension provision. Once the Bill receives Royal Assent the Ministry of Defence will comply with its provisions.

Medals

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 25 February 2013, Official Report, columns 22-6W, on medals, for what reasons polar explorers are now excluded from the award of the Polar Medal; and what assessment he has made of how that practice reflects the criteria set out in the fifth clause of the Royal Warrant of 1998.

Mark Francois: Polar exploration is excluded from the award of the Polar Medal only in instances where it does not contribute to the research of polar sciences or in technical support of the research of polar sciences. In the era of the satellite polar exploration has become more widespread with individuals undertaking travels in the Polar regions often without clear research objectives.
	This practice reflects the criteria set out in the fifth clause of the Royal Warrant Eligibility which requires an honoree to have personally conspicuous contributions to the knowledge of polar regions, or to have rendered prolonged service of outstanding quality in support of acquisition of such knowledge, and who have, in either case undergone the hazards and rigours imposed by the polar environment.

Military Bases: USA

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Ministry of Defence police are based at the US bases at (a) Menwith Hill, (b) Lakenheath, (c) Mildenhall, (d) Molesworth, (e) RAF Fylingdales, (f) Alconbury and (g) Fairford.

Mark Francois: I am withholding the numbers of the Ministry of Defence police (MDP) deployed at RAF Menwith Hill, RAF Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall, RAF Molesworth, RAF Fylingdales, RAF Alconbury and RAF Fairford for the purpose of safeguarding national security since it would indicate the strength of the MDP presence at each base and this could potentially prejudice their security.

Military Police

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Ministry of Defence (MOD) police serve at each MOD establishment.

Mark Francois: I am withholding the numbers of Ministry of Defence police (MDP) officers deployed at Ministry of Defence establishments for the purpose of safeguarding national security.

Police: Dogs

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many police dogs have died of reasons other than of natural causes in each of the last 10 years.

Mark Francois: The number of police dogs that have died in each year from 2007 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Number 
			 2007 20 
			 2008 14 
			 2009 9 
			 2010 13 
			 2011 15 
			 2012 26 
		
	
	Information prior to 2007 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The Department's policy is to re-home all military working dogs at the end of their service life wherever practicable. Regrettably, however, there are occasions when military working dogs have to be put down. This action is only ever taken as a last resort, where it is judged unsafe to re-home the animal because of the risk they pose to the public or for veterinary reasons.

Procurement

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of contracts measured by value were awarded by his Department to UK-based small and medium-sized enterprises in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Philip Dunne: For financial year 2011-12, around 12% of all contracts by value were placed with small and medium-sized enterprises. This equates to around 40% by volume of all new Ministry of Defence (MOD) contracts placed during that year. No distinction is made between whether these companies are based in the UK or overseas.
	The MOD recognises that smaller businesses are an important source of innovation and flexibility in meeting defence and security requirements. We are undertaking a range of measures to help SMEs secure more defence business, both directly through contracts with MOD and indirectly as members of the defence supply chain. These measures seek to ensure a level playing field and a fair chance for small and medium-sized enterprises—neither preferential treatment nor discriminatory barriers.

Radioactive Materials

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) life cycle analysis, (b) carbon footprint analysis and (c) environmental impact assessment has been made covering countries of origin of any raw nuclear materials procured for use in military nuclear programmes.

Philip Dunne: No such assessments have been made. These materials were last procured when such assessments were not general practice in any sector.

Reserve Forces: Greater London

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to increase participation of adult volunteers in the (a) Combined Cadet Force, (b) Air Training Corps, (c) Army Cadet Force and (d) Sea Cadets in Greater London.

Mark Francois: Adult volunteers are pivotal to the success of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) sponsored cadet forces. We owe a debt of gratitude to the many thousands of volunteers who do so much for our 140,000 cadets.
	The community cadet forces (the Sea Cadets, the Army Cadet Force and the Air Training Corps) recruit high quality individuals as volunteers via a range of sources, including their respective websites. The Combined Cadet Force is a partnership between schools and the MOD, and therefore it is ultimately the school's responsibility to recruit sufficient adult volunteers.
	Cadet forces are taking part in a number of specific volunteer recruitment initiatives within London. These include:
	The Structured Activities for Young People Programme, a £1.35million YOU.matter initiative by the Mayor of London, designed to increase the number of adult volunteers, young people and new units engaged in structured youth activity. The community cadet forces are three of the 10 uniformed organisations benefiting from this programme, which is being run on behalf of the Greater London Authority by the Safer London Foundation.
	The Supporting Inclusion Programme, funded by the Department of Communities and Local Government and delivered through Youth United, also aims to increase the number of young people and adult volunteers engaged in structured youth activity. It is targeted in 15 priority areas across England, including five London boroughs. Their programme in Haringey is being run alongside the YOU.matter programme.
	National level programmes that will impact on cadet force adult volunteer recruitment in Greater London include the Cadet Expansion Project, announced by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister in June 2012. This project aims to create 100 new cadet units in English state-funded schools. As part of this programme the Ministry of Defence and Department for Education will be working with schools to encourage new adult volunteers. Also, a targeted recruitment campaign was launched in late 2012 to increase the number of officers in the Army Cadet Force.

UK Polar Medal Assessment Committee

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 25 February 2013, Official Report, column 22W, on medals, for what reasons the UK Polar Medal Assessment Committee does not follow the practice of other honours nomination committees in making its membership publicly known; and for what reasons this is deemed to be necessary to protect the integrity of the selection process.

Mark Francois: The UK Polar Medal Assessment Committee does not make its membership publicly known in order to protect the integrity of the selection process. This is deemed necessary because the polar community is very small and many of the nominees for the award of the Polar Medal may be known by a committee member.
	If committee membership were disclosed, there is a possibility that individual committee members might be lobbied by supporters of the nominee to influence the decision of the committee.

UK Polar Medal Assessment Committee

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how often the UK Polar Medal Assessment Committee meets; and when it last met.

Mark Francois: The United Kingdom Polar Medal Assessment Committee meets annually. The last meeting was held on 26 October 2012.

Veterans: Advisory Services

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made on the Veterans' Information Service; and if he will assess the effects of the present cost of voluntary redundancy from the armed forces on his Department's plans to provide a follow-up information service to veterans 12 months after discharge.

Andrew Murrison: The Veterans Information Service (VIS) is due to be launched in April 2013. However, I am pleased to report that we were able to deliver aspects of VIS in December 2012, some four months earlier than anticipated. This was largely in recognition of the fact that Christmas and new year can be a difficult time for vulnerable veterans and it was considered important to offer this additional support to those most likely to need it. VIS letters were despatched via e-mail or post to almost 16,000 veterans who had left service between September 2010 and November 2011. Responses were encouraging, with an 8% increase in Big White Wall activity and 591 visits to the VIS area of the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency (SPVA) website. Also, around 60 recipients of the VIS letter made contact to ask for help. SPVA were able to offer help and advice to all who made contact.
	A questionnaire is currently being developed by the Department of Health in line with the recommendation made within my 2010 Fighting Fit report. The aim is for this questionnaire to be made available with the VIS letter from April 2013.
	Provision of the VIS is a Department of Health commitment and as such the Department of Health is funding SPVA to deliver this service. The Ministry of Defence has therefore made no assessment of VIS provision against the cost of the voluntary redundancy scheme.

Written Questions

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the procedure and sign-off process for responding to parliamentary questions in his Department includes review by special advisers.

Mark Francois: Ministers are responsible and accountable for all answers to parliamentary questions. Special advisers may provide advice to Ministers, as outlined in the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers.

JUSTICE

Alcoholic Drinks

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the level of alcohol-related absenteeism in his Department; whether his Department has an (a) internal alcohol policy and (b) occupational health strategy; and if he will publish such documents.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice (Ministry of Justice HQ, National Offender Management Service, HM Court and Tribunal Service and the Office of the Public Guardian) does not separately record the level of alcohol-related absenteeism in the Department from wider sickness absence reporting.
	The Ministry of Justice has policies and strategies for both alcohol and occupational health. These policies and strategies ensure that all staff can access the right support when needed. Our occupational health services fulfil its obligation to comply with relevant legislation and are designed to:
	promote the physical and psychological well-being of our employees prevent or minimise the risk of illness and injury arising from work activity
	manage sickness absence and return to work plans after illness or injury
	consider adjustments which enable staff with disabilities, (either temporary or permanent) to carry out their duties.
	Copies of our policies and guidance in respect of alcohol and occupational health will be placed in the Library.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been prosecuted for selling alcohol to a drunk person in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for an offence under the Licensing Offences Act 2003 of the sale of alcohol to a person who is drunk, in England and Wales from 2007 to 2011 (the latest available), can be viewed in the table.
	
		
			 Defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for sale of alcohol to a person who is drunk(1), England and Wales, 2007-11(2,3) 
			  2007 2008(4) 2009 2010 2011 
			 Proceeded against 7 17 8 3 12 
			 (1) An offence under s.141 of the Licensing Offences Act 2003. (2) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (4) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice.

Council Tax: Non-payment

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were (a) taken to court and (b) successfully prosecuted for non-payment of council tax in each of the last five years.

Helen Grant: Council tax cases are not always listed and resulted individually as local councils issue multiple cases that are heard at a single hearing. HMCTS cannot, therefore, tell how many people they relate to, or how many liability orders were granted. The only way we may be able to obtain this data would be to ask each area/court to manually count and check the numbers which would be possible only at disproportionate costs. Upon the granting of a liability order the local council takes responsibility for the production of those orders.

Domestic Violence

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of family justice centres in supporting victims of domestic and family violence; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Grant: The Ministry of Justice is not responsible for the implementation of family justice centres at local or national level and as such has made no assessment of those that may have been set up.
	The decision to provide a family justice centre (FJC) which co-locates support and advice service for victims of domestic violence is a local matter and will be made with a view to local demand and resources.

Legal Aid Scheme

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much legal aid was received by (a) Birnberg Peirce and Partners, (b) Leigh Day, (c) Bhatt Murphy, (d) Public Interest Lawyers, (e) Imran Khan and Partners, (f) HMA Solicitors and (g) Public Law Solicitors in each year from 2008-09 to 2011-12.

Jeremy Wright: The requested information is provided in the table.
	The figures exclude costs paid by the court of appeals, Supreme Court, House of Lords and Senior Courts Costs Office.
	The payments include VAT and disbursements such as expenses incurred on cases which although paid by the LSC directly to the firm, are then paid on to other parties (such as expert witnesses and non-panel advocates).
	The figures may change over time, due to changes in the way that data is recorded and updated, different claiming mechanisms for the various legal aid schemes as well as the complex nature of the Legal Service Commission's management information and IT systems.
	
		
			 £ 
			  2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 (a) Birnberg Peirce and Partners 2,928,386.47 2,753,992.43 1,798,320.71 2,027,737.55 
			 (b) Leigh Day 1,348,631.20 992,333.70 1,182,080.21 1,216,888.66 
			 (c) Bhatt Murphy 643,580.16 803,663.41 117,444.04 462,484.22 
			 (d) Public Interest Lawyers 628,527.75 267,433.88 439,268.02 331,238.85 
			 (e) Imran Khan and Partners 1,891,128.90 1,195,971.50 1,479,041.57 1,337,270.08 
			 (f) HMA Solicitors 6,709.19 144,148.01 70,960.87 174,458.91 
			 (g) Public Law Solicitors 324,568.82 289,620.43 443,249.31 195,376.23 
			 Total 7,771,532.49 6,447,163.36 5,530,364.73 5,745,454.50 
		
	
	The payments include VAT and disbursements such as expenses incurred on cases which although paid by the LSC directly to the firm, are then paid on to other parties (such as expert witnesses and non-panel advocates).
	Note also that the figures may not be directly comparable over time, due to changes in the way that data is recorded and updated, different claiming mechanisms for the various legal aid schemes as well as the complex nature of the LSC’s management information and IT systems.

National Archives

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2013, Official Report, column 52W, on national archives, which categories of file are closed to public access and are more than 30 years old, broken down by exemption type; whether he will commission further research into the categories of files that are closed to public access; and how many files are held by the security services that are closed to public access and are more than 30 years old.

Helen Grant: The majority of government records are opened to public access on transfer to The National Archives. The Government Department that created each record is responsible for reviewing its sensitivity and identifying information that should remain closed after transfer to The National Archives, in line with exemptions from the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Records that have been transferred closed to The National Archives can be requested under the Freedom of Information Act. On receiving a request for a closed record The National Archives will assess the ongoing sensitivity of the record in consultation with the department that transferred it, and decide whether an exemption applies or it can be opened to the public. The relevant exemptions for files transferred closed or re-reviewed since 2005 are listed on each file's catalogue entry at:
	www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/Discovery.
	Certain exemptions may not be relied on for more than 30 years after the record was created (and the maximum duration of the majority of these provisions will fall to 20 years in parallel with the introduction of the 20 year rule). The exemptions that can be applied to records older than 30 years at The National Archives are those at the following sections of the Act: 23 (information supplied by, or relating to, bodies dealing with security matters), 24 (national security), 27(1) and 27(2) (international relations), 29 (economy), 30(2) (investigations), 31 (law enforcement), 34 (Parliamentary privilege), 37(1) (communications with the Royal Family and Honours), 38 (health and safety), 39 (environmental information), 40 (1) and (2) (personal data), 41 (information provided in confidence) and 44 (prohibitions on disclosure).
	Closed records held at The National Archives are listed on its online catalogue which is publicly available, so there is no need to commission research into them. Information about the number of closed records held by the security services is not held by the Ministry of Justice or The National Archives.

Offences against Children

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he plans to take to ensure that victims of paedophiles and child exploitation have access to ongoing victim support services; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Grant: The Government is committed to developing a justice system that provides the highest possible standards of protection and support for young victims of crime.
	Responsibility for the care and support of child victims of rape, sexual assault and sexual exploitation is led by the Department for Education. The Ministry of Justice is working closely with the Department of Education to deliver their ‘Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation Action Plan’ which was published in 2011.
	Children are one of a number of vulnerable victims for whom services will be prioritised following the response to last year's Ministry of Justice public consultation Getting it Right for Victims and Witnesses. The Ministry of Justice is also providing nearly £4 million of funding this year through its Rape Support Fund for support and counselling services for women and girls over the age of 13 years who have suffered recent or historic rape or sexual violence.
	The Government has opted into EU Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography. The directive, which is due to come into force on 18 December 2013, will help to ensure that there is a co-ordinated and consistent response throughout the European Union in combating child sexual exploitation, which as a result of advances in technology, increasingly goes beyond the limits of national borders.

Prisons: Television

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what arrangements he plans to put in place to enable Welsh prisoners in prison in England to access S4C when prisoners are no longer allowed to subscribe to Sky.

Jeremy Wright: In-cell access to subscription television services, such as that provided by British Sky Broadcasting, is not available in public sector prisons. The access which is available to prisoners in contracted out prisons does not involve individual subscriptions and is currently subject to review.
	In public sector prisons, each eligible prisoner has access to nine pre-determined free-to-view channels in-cell. Governors have the flexibility to change any of the pre-determined channels to other free-to-view channels locally. I understand that S4C is not available as a free-to-view channel in England and is therefore not available to watch in public sector prisons.

Prisons: Visits

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice to what financial support families of young people (a) disposed by the courts, or transferred from prison to a secure psychiatric setting and (b) serving a custodial sentence in a young offender institution are entitled via the Assisted Prison Visits Scheme.

Jeremy Wright: The Assisted Prison Visits Scheme does cover families of young people placed in Youth Offender Institutions. The scheme entitlements are the same as for visitors and families of adult offenders in HM prisons.
	An assisted family visits scheme is also provided for sentenced young people in secure training centres and secure children's homes which reimburses the young person's family for the cost of visiting them once a week.
	The Assisted Prison Visits Scheme does not cover a person transferred to a secure psychiatric setting as they are no longer in prison custody but detained under the provisions of the Mental Health Act 1983.
	The Department of Health have stated that the ability of people on low incomes to visit patients detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act 1983 depends on the individual circumstances of the case. Under current arrangements, people in receipt of a qualifying benefit may be eligible for assistance in the form of a community care grant from the Social Fund.

Probation

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if a mechanism will be put in place to allow the transfer of cases from the private to public sector and vice versa if the risk is deemed to have escalated or decreased.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice has recently published the consultation paper “Transforming Rehabilitation—a revolution in the way we manage offenders” which sets out proposals for driving down reoffending by extending rehabilitative provision, opening up service delivery and paying by results.
	The consultation paper states that we will not take any risks in protecting the public. We propose that the public sector will retain ultimate responsibility for public protection and will manage directly those offenders who pose the highest risk of serious harm to the public. We recognise that the level of risk posed by offenders can change over time. As part of the consultation, we are looking at the most effective mechanisms for ensuring that both the contracted providers and the public sector Probation Service are managing dynamic risk, co-ordinating their approaches, and protecting the public.
	The consultation closed on 22 February 2013 and we will set out further details of how we will reform the way we manage offenders once we have considered responses.

Probation

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders under supervision have mental health issues.

Jeremy Wright: The number of offenders starting court order supervision by the probation service with mental health treatment requirements attached is set out in Table 4.4 of the probation tables published as part of Offender Management statistics on the Ministry of Justice website:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/prisons-and-probation/oms-quarterly
	The published figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Reoffenders: Yorkshire and the Humber

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the reoffending rate in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber was in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: The following table presents the number of offenders in Yorkshire and the Humber who were released from custody, received a non-custodial conviction at court, received a caution, reprimand, warning or tested positive for opiates or cocaine in each of the years, 2006 to 2010 (the latest calendar year available); and the proportion that committed a proven reoffence within a one year follow-up period.
	
		
			  Cohort 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 
			 Number of offenders in cohort 81,714 80,630 74,361 70,908 64,145 
			 Proportion of offenders who re-offend (percentage) 28.5 28.2 28.7 27.3 28.3 
			 Note: This number docs not represent all proven offenders. Offenders who were released from custody or commenced a court order are matched to the Police National Computer database. A certain proportion of these offenders cannot be matched and are, therefore, excluded from the offender cohort, ie the group of offenders for whom reoffending is measured. 
		
	
	In response to a Ministry of Justice consultation on improvements to reoffending statistics, proven reoffending data is only produced at the regional, probation area and local authority level and not at constituency level.
	Proven reoffending is defined as any offence committed in a one year follow-up period and receiving a court conviction, caution, reprimand or warning in the one year follow-up. Following this one year period, a further six month waiting period is allowed for cases to progress through the courts.

Staff

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many staff were employed by his Department in each of the last five years; and at what grade or pay band such staff were appointed.

Helen Grant: The number of staff employed, at each grade, by the Ministry of Justice (Ministry of Justice HQ, National Offender Management Service, HM Courts and Tribunals Service and the Office of the Public Guardian) for each of the last five years is set out in the following table:
	
		
			 Number of staff employed by the Ministry of Justice as at 31 December 
			 Grades 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Senior civil servants 280 274 235 196 196 
			 Band A 2,625 2,588 2,388 2,110 2,022 
			 Band B 5,757 5,685 5,317 4,994 4,687 
			 Band C 4,633 4,484 3,881 3,295 3,069 
			 Band D 13,080 12,735 11,793 11,130 10,046 
			 Band E 40,725 40,498 40,147 38,678 36,812 
			 Band F 13,612 13,048 12,659 11,678 11,066 
			 Fast Stream 59 81 100 107 115 
			 Total 80,771 79,393 76,520 72,188 68,013 
		
	
	The 2008, 2009 and 2010 headcount figures include the Scotland and Wales Offices. The Scotland and Wales Offices ceased to be part of the MOJ from April 2011 after moving to the Office of the Territories.

Travel

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department spent on (a) the Government Car Service and (b) other taxi or car services for ministerial travel in each year since 2009-10; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Grant: Information on departmental spend is published in the annual written ministerial statement, details of which can be found within the Libraries of both Houses:
	2009/10:
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm101028/wmstext/101028m0001.htm#10102827000372
	2010/11:
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201212/cmhansrd/cm120116/wmstext/120116m0001.htm#12011611000194
	2010/12:
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm121220/wmstext/121220m0001.htm#12122056000216
	Details of the costs for 2012-13 will be published in the normal way later this year.
	Ministry of Justice spending on ministerial cars has fallen by 37% over the past three years.
	The Ministerial Code, published on 21 May 2010, included changes to the circumstances in which Ministers would be entitled to a car and driver. The number of Ministers with allocated cars and drivers would be kept to a minimum, taking into account security and other considerations. Other Ministers would be entitled to use cars from a ministerial car pool as required.
	Information relating to expenditure on taxis for ministerial travel for each year since 2009-10 is included in the following table:
	
		
			 1 April to 31 March each year Cost (£) 
			 2009-10 12,852 
			 2010-11 1,194 
			 2011-12 954 
		
	
	All Ministers are encouraged to walk or use public transport wherever practicable.

Youth Custody

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost is of each type of place within the secure youth estate.

Jeremy Wright: There are three types of accommodation in the youth secure estate, the average cost of a bed per annum for each sector is as follows:
	A place in a Secure Children's Home costs an average of £212,000 per annum
	A place in a Secure Training Centre costs an average of £178,000 per annum
	A place in a Young Offender Institution costs an average of £65,000 per annum.
	All prices shown above are to the nearest thousand; they are based upon Youth Justice Board (YJB) budget allocations for 2012-13 and include the cost of education across the estate. They are prices which the YJB and MOJ pay for those services in young people's secure custodial facilities. They are not intended to represent the total price of providing custody and related services to young people as they exclude other costs associated with custody such as:
	secure and custodial transport for young people
	service development programmes such as work force and regime development—eg new restraint system;
	VAT paid by the YJB (on applicable services).

CABINET OFFICE

Blood

Paul Flynn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment he has made of the effect on the distribution and availability of blood services in the event of a nuclear weapon being exploded in or near a UK city with a population of more than 500,000.

Anna Soubry: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department of Health.
	As with any type of major incident, the Department and the national health service have plans in place to be able to respond effectively to minimise harm to the United Kingdom population arising from accidental or malicious use of radiological material.
	NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) has robust plans for the loss of any blood centre. In the event of the loss of one or more processing centres, the blood supply system would be able to run an emergency service, with donations for processing and hospital deliveries diverted to an alternative centre.
	There are three potential consequences, which would impact on blood supply that could result from the type of scenario outlined; loss of blood processing capacity, mass trauma requiring significant use of blood for treatment and the health consequences of irradiation.
	NHSBT holds stocks to support a mass trauma incident adequate to meet the anticipated needs of such an event without affecting other requests for blood and plasma. However, there are also plans to alert donors to the need to collect blood at short notice if rapid replenishment becomes necessary.
	The treatment of radiation poisoning would require blood, plasma and platelets. NHSBT obtains platelets from platelet-only donors, and also extracts platelets from whole blood donations. In the event of increased demand for platelets at short notice, there is capacity to increase the number of therapeutic doses of platelets obtained through existing stocks of whole blood.
	NHSBT has a command and control system within its emergency response, which allows the organisation to respond to emergencies. Staff are aware of their responsibilities in such a scenario and have received training which will allow NHSBT to take rapid decisions that would support the ongoing operation of the blood supply chain.

Employment

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment he has made of employment rates of (a) those with mental health problems, (b) those with learning disabilities, (c) former offenders and (d) the homeless; and what contribution social firms can make to improve them.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated March 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what assessment has been made of employment rates of (a) those with mental health problems, (b) those with learning disabilities, (c) former offenders and (d) the homeless; and what contribution social firms can make to improve them. 146815
	Estimates of employment are derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). For the period October to December 2012 it was estimated that the employment rate for people aged 16 to 64 reporting a mental health problem was 20 per cent. For those reporting a severe learning difficulty it is estimated to be 33 per cent. The LFS does not collect information on former offenders and the homeless. Please note that the LFS does not sample people living in communal establishments such as hospitals or nursing homes.
	The total employment rate for the UK is 71.5%. Further information can be found on the ONS website, here
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/february-2013/statistical-bulletin.html
	The ONS cannot comment on the contribution of social firms to the improvement of the labour market situation of the specified groups, as this is a matter of policy.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.

ICT

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many (a) iPads and (b) iPhones have been purchased by his Department since May 2010.

Nick Hurd: This Government is determined to provide staff with technology that allows them to do their job effectively and efficiently. That is why we are working to reform Government ICT and unwind expensive legacy contracts. Since May 2010 we have made huge savings from ICT. Government saved over £400 million from ICT in the first half of this year, in addition to £354 million in 2011-12 and £300 million between June 2010 and March 2011. This has contributed to the over £12 billion savings that this Government has made, which includes slicing out the unnecessary spend we inherited in May 2010. These are savings which could easily have been initiated prior to May 2010.
	As was the case under the previous administration, staff can be provided with a smart phone when there is an appropriate business need. Besides blackberry devices, some 268 iPhones and 18 iPads have been provided as at 1 March 2013.

Older Workers: Kingston Upon Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the number of people aged over 65 years old in the working population in Hull in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated March 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what recent estimate has been made of the number of people aged over 65 in the working population in Hull in each of the last five years. (146671)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles labour market statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. However, estimates of working populations for the requested age band, and geography are not available due to small sample sizes.
	As an alternative we have provided estimates for the number of people aged over 65 in the working population in the Local Enterprise Partnership of Humber, which includes the City of Kingston Upon Hull Unitary Authority, for the latest period and the previous four years. The working population has been defined as those people who are employed or currently seeking work according to their responses to interviews held during the 12 month period October 2011 to September 2012, the latest available period, and the 12 month period ending in September for 2008 to 2011 from the APS.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
	
		
			 Number of people aged 65 and over in the working population(1) in Humber Local Enterprise Partnership 
			 12 months ending: Thousand 
			 September 2008 8 
			 September 2009 8 
			 September 2010 10 
			 September 2011 10 
			 September 2012(2) ***10 
			 (1) The working population has been defined as those people who are employed or currently seeking work. (2 )Coefficients of Variation have been calculated for the latest period as an indication of the quality of the estimates. See Guide to Quality below. Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5% we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220. Key: * 0 = CV<5%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered precise ** 5 = CV <10%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered reasonably precise *** 10 = CV <20%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered acceptable **** CV ? 20%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes CV = Coefficient of Variation Source: Annual Population Survey

Public Appointments

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what code is used to regulate the behaviour of Government-appointed Tsars;
	(2)  which Government Tsars have been appointed since May 2010; and on which Government projects each such Tsar has assisted.

Francis Maude: As was the practice under previous Administrations, the Government values receiving advice from a wide range of sources including by appointing unpaid policy experts. Although a central list of appointments by this or previous Administrations is not maintained, details of the most recent appointments can be found on the No. 10 or departmental websites.

Public Consultation

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what his policy is on the publication in full of summaries of responses to Government consultations; whether he intends the publication of these responses, in full, to be made compulsory on all Departments; and if he will make a statement.

Oliver Letwin: Government policy on consultations is outlined in the Consultation Principles. These do not currently consider how departments should publish consultation responses. We are conducting a review of the operation of the Consultation Principles this summer. As part of the review, we will consider whether the guidance should cover the publication of responses.
	Departments report the findings and responses to consultations as a matter of course and decide how best to do this in each individual case.

Third Sector

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what role he envisages for social firms in the Big Society.

Nick Hurd: Social firms can help create a bigger society in various ways.
	They empower people to play a greater role in society by creating jobs, they contribute to the growth of local economies, and they enable people to come together to improve the well being of communities. This Government is committed to supporting social firms and social enterprises to grow through initiatives such as Big Society Capital, the Investment and Contract Readiness Programme and strategic funding for Social Firms UK.

Unemployment: Wolverhampton

Pat McFadden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  how many people in Wolverhampton South East constituency have been unemployed for over 12 months; and what the equivalent figure was in May 2010;
	(2)  how many young people aged 18 to 24-years-old have been unemployed for over 12 months in Wolverhampton South East constituency; and what the equivalent figure was in May 2010;
	(3)  how many young people aged 18 to 24-years-old are unemployed in Wolverhampton South East constituency; and what the equivalent figure was in May 2010;
	(4)  how many people are unemployed in Wolverhampton South East constituency; and what the equivalent figure was in May 2010.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated March 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions asking:
	(1) How many people in Wolverhampton South East constituency have been unemployed for over 12 months; and what the equivalent figure was in May 2010 (146795);
	(2) How many young people aged 18 to 24 have been unemployed for over 12 months in Wolverhampton South East constituency; and what the equivalent figure was in May 2010 (146796);
	(3) How many young people aged 18 to 24 are unemployed in Wolverhampton South East constituency; and what the equivalent figure was in May 2010 (146797);
	(4) How many people are unemployed in Wolverhampton South East constituency; and what the equivalent figure was in May 2010 (146798);
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles unemployment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS), following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. Estimates from the APS show that the unemployment level in Wolverhampton South East for October 2011 to September 2012 and June 2009 to July 2010, the period closest to May 2010, was 6,000 for both periods. However, estimates of unemployment for the requested duration and age bands in Wolverhampton South East are not available due to small sample sizes.
	As an alternative, we have provided the number of persons claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) in Wolverhampton South East constituency for the requested ages and durations. The counts of people claiming JSA are those who are claiming benefits for unemployment related purposes. At a UK level the total number of JSA claimants is around two thirds of the total unemployment level.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk
	
		
			 Number of people(1) claiming jobseeker's allowance in Wolverhampton South East constituency 
			  All people Aged 18 to 24 
			 May 2010 4,285 1,230 
			 January 2013 4,775 1,380 
			 (1) Computerised claims only. These currently account for approximately 99.7% of all claims. Note: Data rounded to nearest 5. Source: Jobcentre Plus Administrative System

EDUCATION

Academies Capital Maintenance Fund

Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much money will be made available in the Academies Capital Maintenance Fund in 2013-14; and when applicants to the Fund will be told if they have been successful.

David Laws: The Secretary of State for Education, the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), announced on 1 March 2013 that the annual allocation for the 2013-14 Academies Capital Maintenance Fund is £392 million.
	We expect to notify academies of the outcome of their applications to the initial round of the 2013-14 Academies Capital Maintenance Fund in April.

Schools: Armed Forces

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of the military ethos programme to (a) students enrolled on the programme and (b) the armed services.

David Laws: The potential benefits of the military ethos programme are: (a) for students enrolled on the programme, that core values, such as self-discipline and teamwork help students to reach their academic potential and become well-rounded and accomplished adults fully prepared for life beyond school; and (b)  for the armed services, the positive effects of utilising their skills and expertise in an educational context.
	Some of the supporting evidence was included in the press notice of 7 December 2012 announcing the military ethos in schools grants:
	http://tinyurl.com/ahv3r5u
	The documents used in the formulation of this programme are as follows:
	1. Blond, P., Kaszynska, P., Military Academies: Tackling disadvantage improving ethos and changing outcome. Respublica.
	2. Burkard, T. (2008) Troops to Teachers: A successful programme from America for our inner city schools. London: Centre for Policy Studies. Available free of charge at:
	http://www.cps.org.uk/files/reports/original/111027170546-20080214PublicServicesTroopsToTeachers.pdf
	3. Burki, A., and T. Burkard. (2011) Something can be done: Troops in our schools will do more than troops on our streets. London: Centre for Policy Studies. Available free of charge at:
	http://www.cps.org.uk/files/reports/original/120123155449-Somethingcanbedone.pdf
	4. Feistritzer, C. E (2005) Profile of the Troops to Teachers Programme. Washington: National Centre for Education Information. Available free of charge at:
	http://www.dantes.doded.mil/Sub%20Pages/Order_Materials/Docs/TTT_0004.pdf
	5. Greatbatch, D., Tolley. H., Gibbons, C. Mallia, C., (2007), Evaluation of Skill Force: 2006-2007. Nottingham: University of Nottingham. Available free of charge at:
	http://www.skillforce.org/sites/default/files/University%20of%20Nottingham%20-SkillForce%20Report.pdf
	6. Institute of Education (2005) Skill Force Evaluation. London: University of London,
	Available free of charge at:
	http://www.skillforce.org/who-we-are/our-story accessed 19/04/11
	7. Moon, G., Twigg, L., Horwood. J., (2010), The Societal Impact of Cadet Forces, Available free of charge at:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/youngpeople/cadetforces/a00210928/a-study-on-the-benefits-of-cadets
	8. Owings, W.A. (2006) Teacher Quality and Troops to Teachers: A National Study with Implications for Principals, National Association of Secondary School Principals, Available priced $25.00 at:
	http://bul.sagepub.com/content/90/2/102.full.pdf+html
	The Department also used the following document which is unavailable in the public domain: Burton, R, and Jacobs. J, (2011) Comparative Study of Critical K-12 Teaching Skills between Florida based Military Instructors and Experienced Classroom Teachers.

Schools: Playing Fields

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the reason was for the time taken for his Department to provide the answer of 28 February 2013, Official Report, column 612W, on schools: playing fields, tabled on 12 October 2012 for named day answer on 17 October 2012.

David Laws: The Department has been having ongoing technical difficulties in tracking the parliamentary questions submitted. Parliamentary question number 122765 was one of those not correctly tracked. I apologise for the unacceptable delay in providing an answer. Action is now being taken to ensure such delays do not occur again.

Schools: Playing Fields

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what input special advisers in his Department had in preparing the answer of 28 February 2013, Official Report, column 612W, on schools: playing fields.

David Laws: Ministerial advisers are asked by Ministers to check the draft answers to all parliamentary questions.

Schools: Playing Fields

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education on what date the draft answer of 28 February 2013, Official Report, column 612W, on schools: playing fields, was submitted to a Minister for approval.

David Laws: Parliamentary question number 122765 was submitted for ministerial approval on 27 February 2013.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Beef Products

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress he has made on securing a Europe-wide response to the problem of adulterated beef products.

David Heath: This is a Europe-wide problem and I spoke to key Ministers from affected member states, resulting in an emergency meeting with the Commissioner in Brussels. We agreed five points for action, the most important of which is Europe-wide DNA testing. At EU Agriculture Council on 25 February 2013 the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the right hon. Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson) urged all member states to share information rapidly in support of a coordinated response and where appropriate criminal investigations.

Horsemeat

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the length of time that horsemeat has been in the UK food chain illegally.

David Heath: Until such time as ongoing investigations are completed and the origin of fraudulent activity is confirmed, the Department cannot make an estimate of the length of time that horsemeat has been in the UK food chain. Since this issue first came to light, action has focussed on uncovering the scale of the problem, securing action at a European level and tracking down those who have caused this situation in order to bring them to justice. A number of investigations are ongoing.

Waste Infrastructure Credits

Graham Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessments were undertaken by his Department before withdrawing the provisional allocation of waste infrastructure credits for three projects, including the Merseyside and Halton Waste Partnership.

Richard Benyon: As part of monitoring progress towards meeting EU landfill directive targets, we assessed the amount of residual waste treatment infrastructure we estimate—on reasonable assumptions—is required to meet our obligation to reduce the amount of biodegradable waste sent to landfill.
	As a result, we withdrew the provisional allocation of waste infrastructure credits to the three remaining local authority-led projects in procurement.
	DEFRA's website
	www.defra.gov.uk
	has details of the analysis that informed our decision.

Flood Insurance

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had on flood insurance.

Richard Benyon: The availability and affordability of insurance in flood risk areas is an important issue for this Government. Constructive negotiations continue with the insurance industry, at the highest levels of Government, on a range of approaches that could succeed the current Statement of Principles.
	The Government is on course to spend £2.3 billion on reducing the risk from flooding and coastal erosion and deliver better protection to 165,000 households over the four years to March 2015.

Flood Insurance

David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had on flood insurance.

Richard Benyon: The availability and affordability of insurance in flood risk areas is an important issue for this Government. Constructive negotiations continue with the insurance industry, at the highest levels of Government, on a range of approaches that could succeed the current Statement of Principles.
	The Government is on course to spend £2.3 billion on reducing the risk from flooding and coastal erosion and deliver better protection to 165,000 households over the four years to March 2015.

Bottles: Recycling

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  when he last met representatives of the bottling industry to discuss the Statutory Packaging Recycling Targets 2013 to 2017:
	(2)  what recent representations he has received from the bottling industry on the statutory packaging recycling targets established for the period 2013 to 2017.

Richard Benyon: DEFRA officials have met representatives of the glass bottling industry and individual bottling businesses to discuss the statutory packaging recycling targets for 2013 to 2017 on four occasions since November 2012. The most recent meeting was held on 29 January this year.
	Since the decision on higher packaging recovery and recycling targets for 2013 to 2017 was announced in the Budget in March 2012, the Department has received a number of letters and other correspondence from the glass bottling industry regarding the statutory targets.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the boundaries are of the reserve pilot area for the proposed badger cull.

David Heath: We recognise that people wish to know the boundaries of the reserve pilot area. There is, however, a risk that publishing specific details of the location could increase the level of any unlawful activity aimed at disrupting the cull.
	As part of the licensing process there will be an opportunity for those living within or close to the cull area to raise any concerns they may have. Details will be published on the Natural England website. A broad description of the area will be made available which balances the need for transparency with the need to protect the safety of those living and working within the application area, as well as those who will undertake the licensed operation.

Dangerous Dogs

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the Written Ministerial Statement of 6 February 2013, Official Report, column 15WS, on irresponsible dog ownership, whether the Government plans to bring forward in this parliamentary Session an amendment to the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 to allow for the prosecution of attacks that take place on private property.

David Heath: holding answer 12 February 2013
	The earliest that such an amendment could be introduced into Parliament is the Third Session beginning this spring.

Food: Origin Marking

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the average cost to a UK food producer group of obtaining European Protected Foods status.

David Heath: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has made no such estimate. Little meaningful information would, in any case, be conveyed by making one, since producer groups differ enormously in size and the costs of preparing protected food names applications vary correspondingly. It should, however, be noted that in contrast to some EU member states, the United Kingdom Government does not charge any fee for the work involved in submitting protected food names applications.

Glass: Recycling

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the likelihood of meeting the 63% recycling target for glass melt in 2013.

Richard Benyon: The remelt target for glass recycling in effect freezes the proportion of glass which can be sent to non-remelt applications at 2009 levels—approximately 37%. The Environment Agency has estimated that the proportion of glass sent to remelt applications in 2012 was approximately 60%.
	The packaging recovery note (PRN) system, established by the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007 (as amended), will enable the remelt target for 2013 to be met. It provides a mechanism by which additional funding is generated to support the collection and recycling of packaging waste materials. Following the introduction of the remelt target, more PRN revenue will be directed to glass remelt facilities which they are expected to invest in increasing capacity for the collection, sorting and reprocessing of glass for remelt. This could take the form of increased support for waste collectors, including local authorities, to collect more glass in a manner which facilitates remelt.

Horse Meat

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the Food Standards Agency informed the Secretary of State of the names of the UK companies suspected of horse meat fraud.

David Heath: Investigations into the adulteration of processed beef products with horsemeat are ongoing. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) announced on 12 February that action had been taken at Farmbox and Peter Boddy, and DEFRA Ministers were informed that the FSA would be entering two premises as part of their investigation on that same morning. While the FSA and police are pursuing other lines of inquiry, it would be inappropriate to discuss details at this stage at the risk of jeopardising the FSA's ability to take enforcement action.

Horses: Animal Welfare

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of horses in the UK that are at risk of being abandoned or fly-grazed; and what discussions he has had with horse welfare organisations about their humane disposal.

David Heath: The UK population of horses is estimated by the British Equestrian Trade Association's National Equestrian Survey 2011 to be just below 1 million. DEFRA has made no estimate of the number at risk of being abandoned or fly-grazed, but evidence from the animal welfare charities and the British Horse Society suggest that the risk is on the increase. Their recent report "Left on the Verge" estimates that some 6,000 horses are at risk of abandonment and fly grazing. Ministers have discussed the report with the welfare organisations concerned and with the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Horse. Steps can be taken by landowners and others to tackle the issue and controls are in place to help them do so including using the anti social behaviour legislation. Largely the problem is one of tackling irresponsible owners and breeders. We are discussing with the Home office what further measures could be considered.

Livestock: Transport

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure the welfare of animals during transport.

David Heath: The Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) is responsible for implementation of the EU rules on the protection of animals during transport (Council Regulation (EC) 1/2005). It carries out non-discriminatory, risk based, inspections of animals, means of transport and accompanying documentation, as required by this legislation.
	Following events at Ramsgate port on 12 September 2012, I asked AHVLA to review the risk basis for its inspections and as a result it is currently undertaking 100% supervised loadings of the vehicles at the point of departure.

Reptiles: Imports

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many CITES and non-CITES listed reptiles as recorded under TRACES have been imported to the UK from within Europe in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: The Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES) database does not distinguish between species listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and species not so listed. It is therefore not possible to make that distinction.
	No veterinary certification is required for live reptiles imported from other EU member states. Member states are therefore not obliged to record these consignments on TRACES. However, the information held on the numbers of reptiles imported into the UK from within the EU according to the TRACES database is shown in the following table.
	The use of TRACES did not become obligatory until 1 January 2005. Therefore we are unable to provide data from TRACES prior to this date.
	
		
			 Live reptiles imported into the UK from other EU member states (according to TRACES, 26 February 2013) 
			  Number 
			 2005 2,007 
			 2006 1,470 
			 2007 520 
			 2008 1,804 
			 2009 2,032 
			 2010 1,255 
			 2011 17,889 
			 2012 8,381

Water Companies

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many meetings he has had with water suppliers since taking up his post.

Richard Benyon: As the Minister responsible for the water sector I have regular contact with water industry leaders, regulators and investors at industry events and meetings.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Arts and Culture

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much arts and culture funding was provided by (a) the Government, (b) local authorities and (c) via philanthropic giving, in (i) the UK and (ii) each region of England, in each year since 2009-10; and what estimate she has made of such figures in each year up to 2014-15.

Edward Vaizey: In relation to arts and culture funding provided by the Department to our arm's length bodies I refer to the right hon. Lady to the answer of 19 November 2012, Official Report, columns 318-20W on arts. However, we are unable to provide a regional breakdown without incurring a disproportionate cost.
	My Department does not collate such figures. However, the Department for Communities and Local Government does collate and publish data on local authority outturn and budgeted spending and financing.
	In relation to philanthropy the figures for 2009-10 and 2010-11 are as follows, but no estimate has been made for future years.
	2009-10
	Total for the UK (including business investment, individual giving and trusts and foundations) = £657,068,757.
	
		
			 Regional breakdown Private investment (£) 
			 East 13,563,152 
			 London 448,056,662 
			 Midlands 20,098,531 
			 North East 13,934,487 
			 North West 20,611,568 
			 South East 32,858,162 
			 Southwest 22,158,397 
			 Yorkshire 18,407,564 
		
	
	2010-11
	Total for the UK (including business investment, individual giving and trusts and foundations) = £685,631,362.
	
		
			 Regional breakdown Private investment (£) 
			 East 13,960,326 
			 London 488,353,930 
			 Midlands 18,591,364 
			 North East England 12,088,167 
			 North West England 21,130,325 
			 South East England 28,406,269 
			 South West England 14,996,240 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 16,182,777

Arts and Culture

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what information her Department holds on local government spending on arts and culture in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12; and how much such expenditure is expected to be in (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 5 March 2013
	My Department does not collate such figures. However, the Department for Communities and Local Government does collate and publish data on local authority outturn and budgeted spending and financing.

Arts and Culture

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2013, Official Report, column 543W, on arts and cultural services, which (a) local authority council leaders and (b) local authority cabinet members for arts and cultural services she has met.

Edward Vaizey: The Department publishes details of all ministerial meetings with external organisations, since May 2010, on its transparency website at the following link:
	ixhttp://www.transparency.culture.gov.uk/category/other/meetings/

Arts and Culture

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on the potential effects of reduced funding for local government on arts and culture budgets.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 5 March 2013
	Ministers within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport regularly meet colleagues from the Department for Communities and Local Government to discuss a range of matters. As the Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, I am also addressing the Local Government Association's annual culture, tourism and sport conference on 7 March 2013 on growth and the economy.

Broadband

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 4 December 2012, Official Report, column 704W, on Broadband Delivery UK, how the digital dividend broadband funds which the BBC Trust agreed in August 2012 to pay to her Department from April 2015 will be administered in the absence of Broadband UK.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 28 February 2013
	There has been no change to the position pursuant to the answer given on 4 December 2012 and to date, no decision made on spending on broadband beyond April 2015.

Broadband

Michael Crockart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when the intent to give state aid to the Super Connected Cities programme was notified to the European Commission.

Edward Vaizey: A discussion paper on a state aid umbrella for the Super-Connected Cities programme was submitted to the European Commission on 10 December 2012. This followed a meeting I had with Joaquin Almunia, the European Commissioner for Competition, on 8 November last year to discuss the programme and to inform him of our intention to apply for state aid approval.

Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press Inquiry

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the final cost to the public purse was of Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry into culture, practice and ethics of the press.

Edward Vaizey: The total cost for Leveson's nine month long inquiry into the culture, practice and ethics of the press has yet to be finalised. Details of final total expenditure will be published in due course.

Newcastle Upon Tyne

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on how many occasions (a) she and (b) the Minister for Culture have visited Newcastle upon Tyne since May 2010.

Edward Vaizey: The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Maria Miller), has not visited Newcastle upon Tyne since her appointment in September 2012, and I have not visited since May 2010. The former Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport visited Newcastle upon Tyne on departmental business in August 2011. Every consideration will be given to Ministers visiting the area again in the future.

Rugby: Females

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much her Department has spent supporting women's rugby in each of the last five years.

Hugh Robertson: Sport England have invested the following in support of women's rugby in the last five years:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2008-09 1,536,667 
			 2009-10 2,062,375 
			 2010-11 2,090,375 
			 2011-12 2,090,375 
			 2012-13 2,018,375

Rugby: Females

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to support the English national women's rugby union team in advance of the rugby world cup.

Hugh Robertson: Sport England is investing £375,000 in both 2013-14 and 2014-15 specifically to support women's elite rugby. This is in addition to the £4 million investment as part of Sport England's Whole Sport Plan funding which the RFU will invest into the talent system for women's rugby over the period 2013-17.

Rugby: Females

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will encourage Premiership rugby union clubs to support a women's side.

Hugh Robertson: The RFU is investing £2,075,000, specifically on attracting more girls and young women to rugby. Funding will be used for targeted work with rugby clubs to support their efforts to develop more women's and girls' teams.

Rugby: Females

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to encourage the broadcast media's coverage of women's rugby.

Edward Vaizey: Government is committed to encouraging more coverage of women's sport on television, radio and in the press. To that end, the Secretary of State wrote to all major broadcasters at the end of last year, asking for ideas on how they might show more women's sport. In January, she brought together broadcasters, journalists, and women leaders in sport to debate what we can do to increase coverage of all our sporting achievements by male and female athletes. Building on that, the Department is holding a series of workshops focused on:
	(1) Sharing best practice on how women's sports can position themselves to attract greater media coverage;
	(2) Engaging teenage and women's magazines to increase their sports coverage;
	(3) Developing commercial and media partnerships with women's sports.

Sports: Females

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what measures her Department is taking to encourage girls to participate in (a) sport and (b) women's rugby.

Hugh Robertson: As part of the Youth and Community Sport Strategy, Sport England will work with the national governing bodies of sport to establish a number of "girls only" satellite community sports clubs. They are also investing £1.7 million in the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF), as a national partner for 2013-14 to work with sports on increasing participation among women.
	A further £10 million is being invested through the Active Women fund, a lottery programme that aims to get women living in deprived areas and women with children under the age of 16 into sport.
	The RFU is investing £2,075,000, specifically on attracting more girls and young women to rugby, by increasing coaching provision and developing women's teams within clubs.

Tourism

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what methodology her Department uses to measure the effect of its support of the tourist economy in England.

Hugh Robertson: The Department uses the ONS Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) framework and methodology to estimate the support of the tourist economy in the UK. This is based on international best practice.
	The UK Tourism Satellite Account (UK-TSA) provides information about the demand for goods and services associated with the activity of tourists and the relationship of this demand to the supply of such goods and services within the UK economy.
	The UK-TSA sets out the contributions that tourism makes to the economy of the UK as a whole and to individual “tourism industries” in particular. Such industries invariably serve tourists and non-tourists alike and the UK-TSA includes a series of “tourism ratios” which estimate the proportions of products supplied in the UK that are consumed by tourists.

HEALTH

Cardiovascular System: Diseases

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he plans to publish the cardiovascular disease outcomes strategy; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: The ‘Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes Strategy’ was published on 5 March 2013. A copy of the strategy has already been placed in the Library.

Care Quality Commission

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what monitoring his Department undertakes of Care Quality Commission inspection arrangements.

Norman Lamb: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England. The Department monitors the CQC financial and operational performance and risks at both a general and strategic level through regular formal accountability meetings. The Department does not assess CQC's inspection or monitoring arrangements of specific health and adult social care providers.
	The CQC is responsible for assessing and ensuring the quality of its inspection and monitoring of specific providers on a day to day basis. The CQC publish reports following its inspections on its website. The CQC's annual accounts and annual report are laid before Parliament and it is publicly accountable through parliamentary scrutiny, including Select Committees.
	The CQC advises the Department at the start of each financial year, as part of its business plan, how many inspections it has scheduled to carry out over the forthcoming financial year. The CQC also publishes an overall assessment of the inspections it has carried out during the previous year in the State of Care Report. The last report was published on 22 November 2012.
	As at 27 February, the CQC advise that the number of inspections expected to be completed by the end of March 2013 will be 28,542. This number may change if, for example, locations are deregistered.

Care Quality Commission

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many Care Quality Commission inspectors are employed per head of population in each health commissioning group area of England.

Norman Lamb: The information is not available in the format requested.
	The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has provided the following information. The CQC does not hold population census data with which to compare inspector numbers. The following table contains the total numbers of compliance inspectors per region as at 1 March 2013.
	
		
			 Region Number of compliance inspectors 
			 Central East 136 
			 Central West 148 
			 London 124 
			 North East 136 
			 North West 124 
			 South Central 89 
			 South East 113 
			 South West 96 
			   
			 Grand total 966

Care Quality Commission

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has issued guidance on the number of Care Quality Commission inspectors there should be in each area of England.

Norman Lamb: The Department has not issued any guidance to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on the number of inspectors there should be in each area of England. The CQC is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England. It is for the CQC to determine the appropriate number of inspectors it requires in order to carry out its functions efficiently and effectively.

Dementia

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to publish the independent evaluation of dementia adviser and peer support services.

Norman Lamb: The independent evaluation of dementia adviser and peer support network services will be published shortly.

Fertility

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what guidance his Department provides to primary care trusts on access to NHS fertility treatment by people whose partners already have children through previous relationships;
	(2)  what his Department's policy is on access to NHS fertility treatment by people whose partners already have children through previous relationships; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what representations he has received on access to NHS fertility treatment by people whose partners already have children through previous relationships.

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what his Department's policy is on the provision of IVF treatment for couples where one partner has children from a previous relationship;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to ensure that clinical commissioning groups adopt fair access criteria for in-vitro fertilisation treatment in accordance with recent National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines on fertility.

Anna Soubry: The level of provision of health services, including fertility treatment, is a matter for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) from 1 April 2013, taking account of the needs of all their population. CCGs will be held to account by the NHS Commissioning Board (NHSCB), who have issued to CCGs a factsheet about commissioning fertility services. This sets out how CCGs should approach commissioning fertility services and take account of the revised National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence Fertility Guidelines. The factsheet can be found at:
	www.commissioningboard.nhs.uk/files/2013/02/fertility-facts.pdf
	The Department has funded Infertility Network UK (INUK), the leading infertility patient support group, to produce advice for NHS commissioners in England about standardising eligibility criteria for fertility services, This is signposted in the fertility factsheet that the NHSCB recently issued to CCGs. INUK's advice is:
	"PCTs (primary care trusts, now CCGs) should move towards a position where funding is available for those who do not have a living child, including couples where one partner is childless. As investment in fertility services increases, funding may be available for IVF where both partners have a child/children from a previous relationship, but not from the current relationship. In all considerations of parental status, there should be an explicit statement that children adopted by either partner should have the same status as biological children".
	The Department has received some correspondence about this issue.

Health

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the results of the Department's £1 million independent evaluation of the Public Health Responsibility Deal will be published.

Daniel Poulter: The Public Health Responsibility Deal evaluation comprises two parts—the scoping study and the main evaluation. The scoping study findings have been submitted for publication in two peer-reviewed journals: a review of voluntary agreements is in press and will be published shortly. The main evaluation is in the process of being commissioned to run over three years. The publication schedule has not yet been determined.

Hospital Beds: Greater London

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the current provision of hospital beds is at (a) University College, (b) the Royal Free, (c) the Whittington and (d) North Middlesex hospitals; what the comparative figures were for each of the last five years; and what he envisages the provision to be by the end of 2013-14.

Anna Soubry: The information is not available in the format requested. Information on hospital bed availability at the trusts responsible for each of the specified hospitals during each of the last five years is shown in the following tables. It is the responsibility of individual trusts, working with local NHS commissioners, to ensure
	that the availability of hospital beds is appropriate to meet demand.
	
		
			 Average daily number of available beds open overnight by sector, selected NHS organisations, Q1 2010-11 to Q3 2012-13 
			  Period Code Organisation name Total GeneralandAcute Mentalillness Learningdisabilities Maternity 
			 2012-13 December RAL Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 520 483 6 — 31 
			 2012-13 September RAL Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 515 478 6 — 31 
			 2012-13 June RAL Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 512 479 6 — 27 
			 2011-12 March RAL Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 628 591 1 — 36 
			 2011-12 December RAL Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 614 577 1 — 36 
			 2011-12 September RAL Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 607 581 1 — 25 
			 2011-12 June RAL Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 640 603 1 — 36 
			 2010-11 March RAL Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust 647 609 1 — 37 
			 2010-11 December RAL Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust 637 600 2 — 36 
			 2010-11 September RAL Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust 636 597 3 — 36 
			 2010-11 June RAL Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust 639 598 1 — 39 
			          
			 2012-13 December RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 350 321 — — 29 
			 2012-13 September RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 342 313 — — 29 
			 2012-13 June RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 338 309 — — 29 
			 2011-12 March RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 358 329 — — 29 
			 2011-12 December RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 352 323 — — 29 
			 2011-12 September RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 331 302 — — 29 
			 2011-12 June RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 376 347 — — 29 
			 2010-11 March RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 379 350 — — 29 
			 2010-11 December RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 390 361 — — 29 
			 2010-11 September RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 378 349 — — 29 
			 2010-11 June RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 377 348 — — 29 
			          
			 2012-13 December RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 320 262 12 — 46 
			 2012-13 September RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 313 254 12 — 46 
			 2012-13 June RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 316 257 12 — 47 
			 2011-13 March RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 334 280 12 — 43 
			 2011-12 December RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 337 283 12 — 43 
			 2011-12 September RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 316 275 — — 42 
			 2011-12 June RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 366 305 12 — 49 
			 2010-11 March RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 319 276 — — 43 
			 2010-11 December RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 307 265 — — 42 
			 2010-11 September RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 327 284 — — 43 
			 2010-11 June RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 332 291 — — 40 
			          
			 2012-13 December RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 851 799 12 — 40 
			 2012-13 September RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 843 791 12 — 40 
			 2012-13 June RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 844 791 12 — 40 
			 2011-12 March RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 844 792 12 — 40 
			 2011-12 December RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 844 792 12 — 40 
			 2011-12 September RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 844 792 12 — 40 
		
	
	
		
			 2011-12 June RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 846 792 12 — 42 
			 2010-11 March RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 864 808 12 — 43 
			 2010-11 December RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 845 791 12 — 42 
			 2010-11 September RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 845 791 12 — 42 
			 2010-11 June RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 959 895 12 — 52 
			 Note: The KH03 was an annual collection from all NHS organisations that have beds, both NHS Trusts and PCTs that collected the total number of available bed days and the total number of occupied bed days by ward classification. From Quarter 1 2010-11 the collection was changed to a quarterly collection. The classification for bed occupancy was changed from ward type to the consultant specialty of the responsible consultant. Source: Department of Health: Unify2 data collection—KH03 
		
	
	
		
			 Average daily number of available beds open day only by sector, selected NHS organisations, Q1 2010-11 to Q3 2012-13 
			  Period Code Organisation name Total General and Acute Mental illness Learning disabilities Maternity 
			 2012-13 December RAL Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 76 76 0 — 0 
			 2012-13 September RAL Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 77 76 1 — — 
			 2012-13 June RAL Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 70 70 0 — — 
			 2011-12 March RAL Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 70 70 0 — — 
			 2011-12 December RAL Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 69 69 0 — — 
			 2011-12 September RAL Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 69 69 0 — — 
			 2011-12 June RAL Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 70 70 0 — — 
			 2010-11 March RAL Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust 71 71 0 — — 
			 2010-11 December RAL Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust 70 69 0 — — 
			 2010-11 September RAL Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust 70 70 0 — — 
			 2010-11 June RAL Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust 70 70 — — — 
			          
			 2012-13 December RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 21 21 — — — 
			 2012-13 September RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 23 23 — — — 
			 2012-13 June RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 23 23 — — — 
			 2011-12 March RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 23 23 — — — 
			 2011-12 December RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 23 23 — — — 
			 2011-12 September RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 23 23 — — — 
			 2011-12 June RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 23 23 — — — 
			 2010-11 March RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 21 21 — — — 
			 2010-11 December RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 22 22 — — — 
			 2010-11 September RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 22 22 — — — 
			 2010-11 June RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 21 21 — — — 
			          
			 2012-13 December RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 43 43 — — — 
			 2012-13 September RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 41 41 — — — 
			 2012-13 June RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 42 42 — — — 
			 2011-12 March RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 57 57 — — — 
			 2011-12 December RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 45 45 — — — 
			 2011-12 September RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 45 45 — — — 
			 2011-12 June RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 45 45 — — — 
			 2010-11 March RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 46 46 — — — 
			 2010-11 December RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 44 44 — — — 
		
	
	
		
			 2010-11 September RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust — — — — — 
			 2010-11 June RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 44 44 — — — 
			          
			 2012-13 December RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 190 190 — — — 
			 2012-13 September RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 200 200 — — — 
			 2012-13 June RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 162 162 — — — 
			 2011-12 March RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 122 122 — — — 
			 2011-12 December RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 123 123 — — — 
			 2011-12 September RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 123 123 — — — 
			 2011-12 June RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 124 124 — — — 
			 2010-11 March RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 124 124 — — — 
			 2010-11 December RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 121 121 — — — 
			 2010-11 September RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 113 113 — — — 
			 2010-11 June RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 141 141 — — 1 
			 Note: The KH03 was an annual collection from all NHS organisations that have beds, both NHS Trusts and PCTs that collected the total number of available bed days and the total number of occupied bed days by ward classification. From Quarter 1 2010-11 the collection was changed to a quarterly collection. The classification for bed occupancy was changed from ward type to the consultant specialty of the responsible consultant. Source: Department of Health: Unify2 data collection - KH03 
		
	
	
		
			 Average daily number of available beds open overnight by sector, NHS organisations in England, 2008-09 and 2009-10 
			  Code Name Total GeneralandAcute Acute Geriatric MentalIllness Learningdisability Maternity 
			 2009-10 RAL Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust 664 625 565 60 — — 39 
			 2008-09 RAL Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust 692 638 594 44 — — 54 
			           
			 2009-10 RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 431 384 298 87 — — 47 
			 2008-09 RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 415 368 286 83 — — 47 
			           
			 2009-10 RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 401 347 262 85 — — 54 
			 2008-09 RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 394 335 267 68 — — 59 
			           
			 2009-10 RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 901 809 773 36 12 — 80 
			 2008-09 RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 866 788 754 34 11 — 67 
			 Note: The KH03 was an annual collection from all NHS organisations that have beds, both NHS Trusts and PCTs that collected the total number of available bed days and the total number of occupied bed days by ward classification. From Quarter 1 2010-11 the collection was changed to a quarterly collection. The classification for bed occupancy was changed from ward type to the consultant specialty of the responsible consultant. Source: Department of Health form KH03 
		
	
	
		
			 Average daily number of available beds in wards open day only, selected NHS organisations, 2008-09 and 2009-10 
			  Organisation ID Name Neonates and children Other ages Total 
			 2009-10 RAL Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust 20 206 226 
			 2008-09 RAL Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust 1 351 352 
			       
			 2009-10 RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 6 41 46 
			 2008-09 RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 6 41 46 
			       
		
	
	
		
			 2009-10 RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 6 39 45 
			 2008-09 RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust — 34 34 
			       
			 2009-10 RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 4 138 142 
			 2008-09 RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 6 127 132 
			 Note: The KH03 was an annual collection from all NHS organisations that have beds, both NHS Trusts and PCTs that collected the total number of available bed days and the total number of occupied bed days by ward classification. From Quarter 1 2010-11 the collection was changed to a quarterly collection. The classification for bed occupancy was changed from ward type to the consultant specialty of the responsible consultant. Source: Department of Health form KH03

Medicine: Education

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many medical students at UK medical schools qualified as doctors in the latest year for which figures are available; and how many such doctors were taken on by the NHS in total in that year.

Daniel Poulter: Data from the Higher Education Funding Council for England show that 7,183 students graduated from United Kingdom medical schools during the year ended July 2012.
	Data from the UK Foundation Programme Office show that 6,870 graduates of UK medical schools were allocated to foundation programmes commencing in August 2012. This figure represents all the eligible applicants from UK medical schools.

Mental Health Services: Restraint Techniques

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people died under restraint in mental health institutions in each of the last five years; and how many such people were (a) female and (b) female and from an ethnic minority.

Norman Lamb: Information on the circumstances of the deaths of mental health patients is not held centrally.
	Under the Mental Health Act 1983 (the Act) the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has a duty to monitor how services in England exercise their powers and discharge their duties in relation to patients who are detained in hospital under the Act, or subject to community treatment orders or guardianship. Detaining authorities must notify the CQC of any death of a patient who is detained under the Act.

NHS: Drugs

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total NHS drugs bill was in each of the last five years.

Norman Lamb: The requested information is detailed in the following table.
	
		
			 Table1: Total drugs bill expenditure, broken down by sector, for the last five years 
			 £ million 
			  Primary care drugs expenditure Secondary care drugs expenditure Total drugs expenditure 
			 2007-08 7,663 3,274 10,937 
			 2008-09 7,749 3,647 11,397 
			 2009-10 7,946 3,974 11,920 
			 2010 11 8,280 4,257 12,537 
			 2011-12 8,251 4,482 12,733 
			 Sources: 1. Primary care drugs expenditure taken from the Department's year-end accounts. 2. Secondary care drugs expenditure derived from NHS trusts and primary care trusts finance returns and from foundation trust year-end accounts.

NHS: Standards

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures his Department is developing on the quality of health care provision, other than hospital-standardised mortality rates and summary hospital-level mortality indicators.

Anna Soubry: The Government's information strategy sets a key ambition for an information-led culture, where all health and care professionals—and national and local bodies responsible for health and care services—take responsibility for recording, sharing and using information to improve our care.
	The Department, and its arm's length bodies, is constantly developing new measures and indicators of the quality of health care provision and making as much information as possible available publicly. From 1 April 2013, we will hold the NHS Commissioning Board to account for meeting the objectives set out in the mandate using the NHS Outcomes Framework. The framework was derived from Lord Darzi's three-part definition of quality and includes outcomes that relate to the effectiveness of care, the quality of the patient experience and patient safety. The framework is refreshed every year, refining existing indicators and developing new indicators.. We will also implement the Friends and Family Test nationally for all acute in-patient and Accident and Emergency services to encourage services to be responsive to patient needs and experiences. The test is unique in that it provides frequent, fast feedback, which is comparable from both patients' and national health service staff perspectives. Although there is currently no aggregate ‘rating’ to summarise the performance of organisations providing health and care services, the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), has commissioned a review by the Nuffield Trust to consider whether an aggregate rating should be used and if so, how best this should be done.
	We have also consolidated work initiated under the previous Government. All providers of NHS services are required to publish annual Quality Accounts alongside their financial accounts. The Department publishes a range of data on performance measures, including waiting times and the incidence of health care associated infections. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has been commissioned to produce a library of 150 to 180 quality standards to define what high quality care looks like for particular pathway of care or groups of patients. The national clinical audit programme is being expanded and outcome data for every consultant practising in 10 surgical specialties will be made publicly available. A library of assured indicators for quality measurement (Indicators for Quality Improvement) is available on the website of the Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Obesity

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the reasons behind variations in the (a) treatment of obesity across the country and (b) differential rate of hospital bariatric procedures.

Anna Soubry: No assessment has been made centrally. Primary care trusts are currently responsible for commissioning weight management services to meet the needs of their population including treatment of obesity and bariatric services. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has produced “Guidance on the prevention, identification, assessment and management of overweight and obesity in adults and children”, which includes bariatric services.
	From April 2013 local authorities will be responsible for commissioning weight management services and the NHS Commissioning Board will directly commission specialist morbid obesity services, which should lead to more consistent provision across the country.

Organs: Donors

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were added to the organ donor register in (a) total, (b) England, (c) Wales, (d) Scotland and (e) Northern Ireland in each month since January 2008.

Anna Soubry: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Number of people added to the organ donor register (ODR) per month, 1 January 2008 to 28 February 2013 
			 Registration date(1) Total England Wales Scotland Northern Ireland Unknown(2) 
			 2008       
			 January 107,754 88,443 4,501 13,462 1,255 93 
			 February 112,158 93,785 4,664 12,511 1,111 87 
			 March 78,844 74,443 3,331 127 879 64 
			 April 119,787 104,805 5,972 237 8,680 93 
			 May 101,083 91,167 5,575 185 4,074 82 
			 June 99,792 49,192 2,786 44,263 3,505 46 
			 July 93,699 75,704 4,683 9,711 3,526 75 
			 August 97,520 78,249 4,821 11,058 3,302 90 
			 September 92,548 72,660 4,850 11,731 3,241 66 
			 October 69,152 52,211 3,618 9,757 3,499 67 
			 November 100,400 79,477 4,861 12,584 3,412 66 
			 December 62,144 51,259 3,041 5,312 2,492 40 
			        
			 2009       
			 January 55,926 40,326 2,532 10,805 2,209 54 
			 February 73,896 59,552 3,139 8,470 2,684 51 
			 March 99,153 82,076 4,903 9,382 2,726 66 
			 April 63,127 56,296 3,349 112 3,324 46 
			 May 113,898 93,533 5,562 12,057 2,679 67 
			 June 57,014 40,662 2,437 11,123 2,759 33 
			 July 101,570 77,160 4,560 16,542 3,233 75 
			 August 97,333 80,676 4,335 8,971 3,306 45 
			 September 81,054 62,808 3,611 11,422 3,165 48 
			 October 94,990 74,364 4,284 12,880 3,381 81 
			 November 109,024 84,701 4,720 15,889 3,666 48 
			 December 115,964 97,240 5,198 10,994 2,466 66 
			        
			 2010       
			 January 111,495 93,503 5,269 9,693 2,944 86 
			 February 111,021 93,619 5,135 9,250 2,909 108 
			 March 118,625 92,984 4,959 17,101 3,506 75 
			 April 43,064 32,147 1,826 5,832 3,194 65 
			 May 32,861 28,222 1,612 139 2,857 31 
			 June(3) 31 4 0 1 25 1 
		
	
	
		
			 July 79,047 67,343 3,893 7,790 3 18 
			 August 240,683 218,246 12,458 8,101 1,823 55 
			 September 64,490 41,256 2,494 20,319 409 12 
			 October 107,683 89,780 5,876 10,941 1,008 78 
			 November 124,372 92,687 5,980 25,211 455 39 
			 December 69,016 47,732 2,793 18,064 401 26 
			        
			 2011       
			 January 59,641 48,857 2,680 7,687 400 17 
			 February 76,764 68,971 3,890 37 3,838 28 
			 March 21,223 10,978 616 9,597 31 1 
			 April 25,968 22,287 1,279 2,396 0 6 
			 May 190,834 157,100 9,823 16,591 7,278 42 
			 June 124,938 100,026 5,841 16,241 2,811 19 
			 July 101,766 60,657 3,568 33,051 4,468 22 
			 August 93,820 85,766 5,116 21 2,889 28 
			 September 93,839 61,637 3,701 25,562 2,917 22 
			 October 90,145 66,563 4,380 15,364 3,820 18 
			 November 108,574 80,549 4,990 20,168 2,843 24 
			 December 66,658 48,002 2,898 13,415 2,326 17 
			        
			 2012       
			 January 68,944 53,720 3,018 10,411 1,779 16 
			 February 120,155 87,608 5,252 24,553 2,723 19 
			 March 80,086 58,839 3,609 14,989 2,634 15 
			 April 76,352 60,076 3,462 9,994 2,804 16 
			 May 94,959 77,150 4,318 11,087 2,386 18 
			 June 64,258 50,596 3,196 7,940 2,518 8 
			 July 88,944 72,528 4,350 9,817 2,245 4 
			 August 70,742 53,246 3,375 11,919 2,182 20 
			 September 66,019 51,497 3,105 9,071 2,339 7 
			 October 91,876 71,407 4,457 13,559 2,440 13 
			 November 73,434 53,861 2,968 13,674 2,917 14 
			 December 67,326 52,799 2,961 9,582 1,971 13 
			        
			 2013       
			 January 83,395 66,789 3,478 11,198 1,927 3 
			 February 150,160 121,722 7,188 17,398 3,837 15 
			 (1) The registration date is the date on which a registrant is added to the ODR. External registrations from partners such as the Drivers and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) are received in batches on a weekly/monthly/quarterly basis and this can also explain marked differences between months. Registration data is received in batches because partners and devolved Administrations find sending data in batches a more efficient use of resources rather than sending data to NHSBT on a daily basis. (2 )Unknown column refers to those registrants who have supplied incorrect or incomplete postcodes. (3 )Registrations are also very low for some months when there was maintenance work being performed on the ODR such as April to July 2010 when limited registrations were added because of the DVLA coding error. Note: The number of registrations fluctuate depending on local and national publicity on organ donation and transplantation. Source: NHS Blood and Transplant.

Paramedical Staff

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to improve the (a) professional and (b) training standards of paramedics.

Daniel Poulter: Setting and maintaining standards for paramedics is the responsibility of the independent statutory regulator, the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
	We understand that the HCPC will shortly be undertaking a periodic review of the standards of conduct, performance and ethics for all HCPC regulated professions. In addition, a periodic review of the standards of proficiency for paramedics will begin in April 2013.
	The responsibility for delivering pre-registration education and training lies with individual providers who are required to meet the HCPC's standards of education and training.

Public Health England

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people will be employed by Public Health England; and what the budget will be of this body.

Anna Soubry: Public Health England's establishment is 5,621 whole-time equivalent staff with an operating budget of £518 million.

Public Opinion

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on (a) focus groups and (b) opinion polls in (i) 2012, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2010.

Daniel Poulter: A list of expenditure incurred by the Department on opinion polling and focus groups in 2010, 2011 and 2012 could be provided only at disproportionate cost, as the Department does not hold this information centrally.

School Milk

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of European Commission consultation on (a) the European School Milk Scheme and (b) the European School Fruit Scheme.

David Heath: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
	The European Commission's consultation, which closes on 22 April 2013, is seeking public opinion. Therefore, we cannot assess its implications until the results are published.

Sexually Transmitted Infections

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people under the age of 18 in England were treated for a sexually transmitted disease in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry: The information available is set out in the following table.
	Data are sourced from genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinics in England and data for Chlamydia are supplemented (2008-2011) with data sourced from community services. Data cannot be provided restricted to persons under the age of 18 as, prior to 2009, data were aggregated and were only available for the age-groups specified in the table.
	
		
			 Number of selected sexually transmitted infections (STIs) diagnosed in GUM clinics (and Chlamydia in community services since 2008) in persons aged 19 and under in England, 2007-11 
			 STI Age group 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 
			 Chlamydia <15 332 356 281 272 275 
			  15 to 19 28,479 64,755 71,603 70,946 65,598 
			  Total 28,811 65,111 71,884 71,218 65,873 
			        
			 of which GUM services <15 332 356 281 272 275 
			  15 to 19 28,479 28,612 25,805 22,597 23,200 
			  Total 28,811 28,968 26,086 22,869 23,475 
			        
			 of which community services <15 — — — — — 
			  15 to 19 — 36,143 45,798 48,349 42,398 
		
	
	
		
			  Total — 36,143 45,798 48,349 42,398 
			        
			 Gonorrhoea <15 60 47 47 42 45 
			  15 to 19 3,631 3,287 3,231 3,017 3,200 
			  Total 3,691 3,334 3,278 3,059 3,245 
			        
			 Herpes (first episode) <15 56 67 55 46 60 
			  15 to 19 3,735 4,083 3,942 4,155 4,259 
			  Total 3,791 4,150 3,997 4,201 4,319 
			        
			 Syphilis <15 2 4 0 0 1 
			  15 to 19 88 76 115 85 87 
			  Total 90 80 115 85 88 
			 Warts (first episode) <15 153 149 142 108 97 
			  15 to 19 15,653 16,364 15,973 14,463 14,053 
			  Total 15,806 16,513 16,115 14,571 14,150 
			 Notes: 1. Data are sourced from GUM clinic KC60 returns (200708) and GUM clinic GUMCAD returns (2009-11). 2. Chlamydia data from community services are sourced from NCSP and ‘Non-NCSP/Non-GUM’ services (2008-11) for those aged 15 to 19. 3. Numbers of diagnoses are estimated where GUM clinic data are unavailable. 4. Data represent the number of diagnoses reported and not the number of people diagnosed. 5. Data represent STI diagnoses among people accessing services located in England, i.e. data may include people who are resident in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland or abroad. 7. Age group ‘under 15’includes those aged 13 to 14 only.

Streptococcus

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what plans he has to respond directly to the concerns of those people who wrote submissions to the recent group B Streptococcus consultation responding in favour of screening;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the outcome of his Department's recent consultation on group B streptococcus.

Daniel Poulter: The Department has not held a public consultation on screening for group B streptococcus (GBS) carriage in pregnancy.
	The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises Ministers and the national health service in all four United Kingdom countries about all aspects of screening policy including screening policy for GBS carriage in pregnancy. The UK NSC held a public consultation on its 'Screening for Group B Streptococcal infection in pregnancy' review from 16 July 2012 to 23 October 2012. The UK NSC considered all of the consultation responses submitted during the consultation period and the screening review was amended in light of these responses. A recommendation was then made to Ministers.
	The Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), has no plans to respond directly to those people who wrote submissions to the UK NSCs consultation on screening for GBS carriage in pregnancy.

Streptococcus

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how he plans to improve care for expectant mothers and reduce the risk of group B streptococcal infection in new born babies.

Anna Soubry: The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) published its updated guideline on the prevention of early onset neonatal group B streptococcal (GBS) disease in July 2012. The updated guideline took into account new evidence on the prevention of early-onset neonatal GBS disease. It is important that services undertake local clinical, audits to ensure the effective use of intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis recommended by the guideline.
	In 2012 the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence published two clinical audit tools which include clinical audit standards, a data collection form and an action plan template for use by services that care for women in labour or for babies at risk of, or being treated for, early on-set neonatal infection.
	The Department is working together with the national health service, RCOG, the Royal College of Midwives, the National Institute for Health Research Heath Technology Assessment and the pharmaceutical industry on a number of areas:
	the topic of a “point of care” test so that high-risk women, as identified in the RCOG revised Green-Top guideline on the prevention of early-onset neonatal GBS disease, can be tested at the start of labour is currently in the Health Technology Assessment prioritisation process and will be worked up for discussion in terms of relative importance, feasibility and noting any other existing and on going research;
	development of an implementation tool for use locally to audit current practice and improve implementation of the revised RCOG guideline on the prevention of early-onset neonatal GBS disease;
	including GBS as a topic within education and continuing professional development programmes for midwives and other clinicians; and
	monitoring developments on vaccines against GBS infection.

Tobacco: Retail Trade

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward legislative proposals to introduce standardised tobacco packaging.

Anna Soubry: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 4 March 2013, Official Report, column 871W.

Tobacco: Retail Trade

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the potential increase in counterfeiting and organised crime if tobacco products were sold in plain, standardised packaging.

Anna Soubry: The Department published the ‘Consultation on standardised packaging of tobacco products’ in April 2012. A consultation-stage impact assessment was published alongside the consultation.
	The Government has an open mind on this issue and any decisions to take further policy action on tobacco packaging will be taken only after full consideration is given to the consultation responses, evidence and other relevant information.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum: Greater London

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many destitute asylum seekers have presented themselves at London borough social services departments in each month of the last year; and what support they were offered.

Mark Harper: The majority of adult asylum seekers and their families are supported by the UK Border Agency, rather than by local authorities. Only a small number of adult asylum seekers who have needs above and beyond destitution are supported by local authorities, for example because they are disabled. In these cases, the local authority provides an appropriate level of support depending on their assessment of the person's particular needs. No central record is kept of the number of these cases.
	Unaccompanied asylum seekers who are under 18 years of age are supported by local authorities under the Children Act 1989. In the financial year 2011-12 the UK Border Agency provided local authorities in London with funding for 1,525 supported cases. It is not possible to provide the figure over the past year because the information is still being verified.

Confiscation Orders

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time taken for the execution of a confiscation order issued under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 was; and how many orders issued under the Act remained unexecuted for a period of at least one year.

Jeremy Browne: holding answer 5 March 2013
	The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Deportation: Offenders

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many foreign national offenders have been deported via the automatic deportation criteria since their inception;
	(2)  how many foreign national offenders eligible to be deported via the automatic deportation criteria are still in the UK (a) one year, (b) two years, (c) three years, (d) four years and (e) five or more years after their release; and if she will make a statement.

Mark Harper: holding answer 5 February 2013
	In 2011-12 the UK Border Agency removed or deported 4,500 foreign national offenders from the UK, of these 1,865 were removed under automatic deportation.
	In December 2012, 3,350 foreign national offenders were in the community, while being considered for deportation from the UK. In addition a further 752 were classified as absconders. These figures are based on internal management information and are subject to change.
	The following table shows a breakdown of the length of time since release of the FNOs living in the community, including absconders, at the end of quarter four 2012:
	
		
			 Q4 2012 Number of foreign national offenders 
			 Less than six months 374 
			 Less than 12 months 392 
			 Less than 24 months 625 
			 More than 24 months 1,572 
			 More than 60 months 1,092 
			 Data quality issues 47 
			 Total 4,102 
		
	
	In December 2012, 1,333 foreign national offenders were in detention, while being considered for deportation from the UK.
	The UK Border Agency seeks to deport from the UK foreign national offenders who meet the criteria for deportation. Every effort is made to ensure that a person's removal by deportation coincides, as far as possible, with his/her release from prison on completion of sentence. However, where this is not possible the UK Border Agency continues to seek to deport individuals following completion of their sentence.
	These are cases where the custodial end date or early release date were not recorded at the time.

Immigration Controls

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who is on the ministerial group on migration control; how often this group has met since 2012; and who has chaired each such session.

Mark Harper: holding answer 4 March 2013
	I understand this question may relate to the Inter-Ministerial Group on Migrants' Access to Benefits and Public Services (IMG). This group has been established to consider whether existing rules preventing illegal non-EEA migrant access to benefits, employment and public services could be administered more effectively, and determine whether existing rules on both EEA and non-EEA migrant access are overgenerous and should be tightened.
	The Group consists of the following Ministers:
	Chair: Minister of State for Immigration (Mark Harper MP)
	Deputy Chair: Minister of State for Care Services (Norman Lamb MP)
	Members:
	Minister of State for Employment (Mark Hoban MP)
	Minister of State for Government Policy (Oliver Letwin MP)
	Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (David Gauke MP)
	Minister of State for Housing and Local Government (Mark Prisk MP)
	Minister of State for Schools (David Laws MP)
	Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Hugo Swire MP)
	Minister of State for Universities and Science (David Willetts MP)
	Minister of State for Justice (Lord McNally)
	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Anna Soubry MP)
	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Norman Baker MP)
	As with any Cabinet committee it would not be appropriate to comment on specific meetings, including attendance and agendas.

Immigration: Croydon

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many UK Border Agency legacy cases are still outstanding for applicants resident in Croydon North constituency.

Mark Harper: We are unable to provide any breakdown of the Older Live Cases Unit (OLCU) Live Cohort (the persons we consider to have outstanding cases in OLCU) by constituency. We can breakdown by postcode, region and local authority, however given the age of some of the cases in OLCU, any statistics based on these fields would be subject to data quality issues.

Immigration: Married People

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications to sponsor a non-EEA national spouse to settle in the UK have failed to meet the minimum financial income requirement introduced in July 2012.

Mark Harper: The latest published figures for 2012 on decisions, grants and refusals for entry clearance visa applications (from outside the UK) and for extensions of stay (from inside the UK) for non-EEA partners, potentially leading to settlement (indefinite leave), are given in the following tables:
	
		
			 Decisions on entry clearance visas from outside the UK, for non-EEA partners, providing a potential route to settlement (indefinite leave) 
			    of which  
			 Quarter Category Decisions Issued Percentage Refused Percentage Withdrawn or lapsed 
			 2012 Q1 Family route: Partner 9,946 8,021 81 1,886 19 39 
			 2012 Q2 Family route: Partner 10,119 7,986 79 2,079 21 54 
			 2012 Q3 Family route: Partner 10,970 7,636 70 3,260 30 74 
			 2012 Q4 Family route: Partner 12,624 6,800 54 5,758 46 66 
		
	
	
		
			 Decisions on extensions of stay from inside the UK, for non-EEA Partners, providing a potential route to settlement (indefinite leave) 
			    of which 
			 Quarter Category Decisions Issued Percentage Refused Percentage 
			 2012 Q1 Spouse (probationary period applications) 4,598 4,130 90 468 10 
			 2012 Q2 Spouse (probationary period applications) 3,303 3,011 91 292 9 
			 2012 Q3 Spouse (probationary period applications) 2,769 2,418 87 351 13 
		
	
	
		
			 2012 Q4 Spouse (probationary period applications) 4,534 3,731 82 803 18 
			 Notes: 1. Includes unmarried and civil partners. 2. Excludes decisions on partners applying for immediate settlement. 3. Refusals may relate to applications made in earlier quarters, and may include decisions based on rules in place before July 2012. 4. Data are provisional. Source: Tables be.OLq and ex.01.q, Immigration Statistics October to December 2012. 
		
	
	It is not possible to identify how many of the refusals related to failure to meet the minimum financial income requirement introduced in July 2012 without the inspection of individual cases.
	Information on applications from outside and within the UK for entry clearance visas and extensions of stay by category is published as part of the Home Office's quarterly Immigration Statistics, which is available from the Library of the House and on the Home Office Science website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/science-research/research-statistics/migration/migration-statistics1/

John Stewart

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make representations to her US counterpart about the removal of John Stewart, Chairman of HACAN ClearSkies, from the US travel watch list.

Alistair Burt: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.
	US immigration policy and processes are a matter for the US authorities and are not an area where we are able to intervene, just as we would expect the US to respect our own immigration procedures.

Sexual Offences: Southwark

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the report of the Independent Police Complaints Commission on Southwark Sapphire Unit's local practices for the reporting and investigation of sexual offences, July 2008 to September 2009, published on 26 February 2013, how many cases in the London borough of Southwark were affected by the issues covered by the report.

Damian Green: holding answer 4 March 2013
	The Home Office does not hold these data.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to answer questions 140991 and 140992 tabled on 29 January for answer on 5 February 2013.

Mark Harper: I answered the hon. Member’s question today.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Developing Countries: Water

Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the announcement of 20 April 2012 that her Department intends to double the reach of its water and sanitations work what (a) mechanisms and (b) funds have been put in place to achieve this pledge.

Alan Duncan: DFID is currently considering a number of options to ensure we meet our water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) targets.
	It is not currently possible to provide a final funding total for this work.

Developing Countries: Water

Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development with reference to the Independent Commission for Aid Impact's report on water and sanitation programming in Darfur, whether she plans to introduce a non-governmental organisation challenge fund for water and sanitation programming in (a) Sudan and (b) other countries.

Alan Duncan: DFID is currently considering a number of options, including a mechanism similar to a challenge fund to ensure we meet our water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) targets.
	While it is not possible to confirm which countries would potentially benefit until specific programmes have been finalised, I can confirm that the UK is considering its options for delivering water and sanitation programmes across Sudan and these will be delivered through a range of partners including non-governmental organisations.

Overseas Aid

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many development contracts are currently awaiting approval.

Alan Duncan: There are currently 15 contracts awaiting final approval from the Secretary of State.
	Since September 2012, she has approved all contracts in excess of £1 million in order to improve ministerial oversight and value for money. Prior to this, all such contracts were approved by officials.

TREASURY

Aggregates Levy: Northern Ireland

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made towards the re-introduction of the Aggregates Levy Credit Scheme for Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Sajid Javid: In September 2010, the European General Court annulled the original decision by the European Commission which had deemed the Aggregates Levy Credit Scheme to be approvable state aid. The European Commission is now conducting a formal investigation into the Aggregates Levy Credit Scheme and a new relief scheme cannot be considered until this is concluded.
	The Government remains fully committed to reinstating the aggregates levy credit scheme in Northern Ireland. Officials have worked closely with the authorities in Northern Ireland and representatives of the quarrying industry to provide the Commission with evidence to enable it to approve the aggregates levy credit scheme both retrospectively and for the future.

Alcoholic Drinks: Prices

Iain Stewart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of the quantified savings in the health and crime budgets set out in the Regulatory Impact Assessment published alongside the Government's proposals for a minimum unit price for alcohol are non-cashable.

Sajid Javid: The regulatory impact assessment estimates monetised benefits of £401 million at full effect from health savings to society and £12.9 million per year from crime savings to society. It is not possible to give the precise breakdown of cashable versus non-cashable savings.

Corporation Tax: Croydon

Steve Reed: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the level was of corporation tax receipts collected from businesses registered in (a) Croydon North constituency and (b) the London borough of Croydon in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12.

David Gauke: The information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. This is because HMRC does not hold details of corporation tax receipts data at a constituency or London borough level.

Exhaust Emissions: Motor Vehicles

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2013, Official Report, column 662W, on car tax, what recent representations he has received on feebate schemes to provide a refund to new car buyers for purchasing low-emission cars funded by taxes on high-emission cars.

Sajid Javid: Treasury Ministers and officials receive representations from a wide variety of authorities as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings and discussions.
	The Government supports the take-up of ultra low emissions vehicle through vehicle excise duty exemptions, the Plug-In Car Grant, tax relief for zero and low emissions cars through company car tax, and a 100% first-year allowance (FYA) for businesses incurring expenditure on low emissions cars to 31 March 2015.

Motor Vehicles

Dominic Raab: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer further to the answer of 25 January 2013, Official Report, column 517W, on motor vehicles, what the value of (a) UK exports of cars to the EU and (b) UK imports of cars from the EU was; and what the value of (i) UK exports of cars to the rest of the world and (ii) UK imports of cars from the rest of the world was in December 2012.

Sajid Javid: The information is as follows:
	
		
			 UK trade in motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of persons for December 2012 
			 £ millions 
			  Month UK exports to the EU UK imports from the EU UK exports to outside the EU UK imports from outside the EU 
			 2012 December 716 1,223 1,131 178 
			 Note: Trade is presented on a General Trade basis. Source: Overseas Trade Statistics, HM Revenue and Customs. 
		
	
	The data provided is for trade recorded within the subheading “8703” in the Tariff product classification system. The “8703” heading covers “motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of persons”.

Pay Methods

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the resilience of the UK payments infrastructure.

Sajid Javid: HM Treasury works with the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority to ensure the resilience of critical financial infrastructure, including recognised payment systems, and produces an annual Finance Sector Resilience Plan. An unclassified version is published each year on the Cabinet Office website. This is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/62312/Summary-2012-Sector-Resilience-Plans.pdf

Trade Competitiveness

Tobias Ellwood: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the UK's business competitiveness.

Michael Fallon: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The Government routinely monitors a range of indicators relating to the competitiveness of UK businesses and the UK business environment. A summary of this work was published alongside the Heseltine review as supporting analysis (BIS economics paper no. 19, Benchmarking UK Competitiveness in the Global Economy).
	Analysis of data on productivity and exports points to UK strengths across a range of knowledge intensive services such as communications, business services and finance; along with areas of advanced manufacturing such as aerospace and pharmaceuticals.
	Independent assessments of the competitiveness of the UK's business environment such as the World Bank 'Doing Business Index', and the World Economic Forum 'Global Competitiveness Report' continue to rank the UK among the top ten performers in the world (7th and 8th in the latest rankings respectively). In their latest survey of international tax competitiveness, KPMG ranked the UK as having the most attractive tax regime for business compared to our key competitors.

Welfare Tax Credits

Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many households in receipt of child tax credit but not working tax credit have an annual household income for tax credit purposes of between (a) £5,000 and £5,999, (b) £6,000 and £6,999, (c) £7,000 and £7,999, (d) £8,000 and £8,999 and (e) £10,000 and £16,190; and how many (i) children and (ii) school-aged children live in each such household.

Sajid Javid: The following table provides the number of families that are in receipt of child tax credit only, along with the number of children and school-aged children present in those families. These figures are separated by the requested income brackets.
	School-age children have been defined as those who are aged at least five at 1 December 2012 but less than 16 as at the beginning of the school year for 2012.
	The answer is restricted to families in receipt of child tax credit only, although in-work families can be eligible for working tax credit and have it tapered away. Therefore, both in and out-of-work families are included.
	These figures are provided at family level as that is the basis for determining tax credit entitlement. They are based on provisional tax credits data as at 1 December 2012.
	
		
			 Thousand 
			  Range of income used to taper awards 
			  £5,000-£5,999 £6,000-£6,999 £7,000-£7,999 £8,000-£8,999 £9,000-£9,999 £10,000-£16,190 
			 Number of families 74.0 35.3 30.4 27.7 19.2 77.5 
			 Number of children 138.7 66.1 57.3 53.5 35.1 141.3 
			 Number of school-age children 82.7 38.2 32.9 31.9 19.8 82.9 
		
	
	The information in this answer uses the same tax credits data as HMRC’s published statistics, but does not include those out-of-work cases where an amount equivalent to tax credits is paid through income support or jobseeker’s allowance by DWP.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Apprentices

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the average length of an apprenticeship has been in (a) England and (b) each English region in (i) 2009-10, (ii) 2010-11 and (iii) 2011-12.

Matthew Hancock: Table 1 shows the adjusted average length of an apprenticeship framework by region for 2009/10 to 2011/12, the latest year for which full year data are available.
	Care should be taken when interpreting apprenticeship durations as they are dependent on the mix of apprenticeship levels and frameworks, and the prior attainment of learners (some will already have completed parts of the apprenticeship). The adjusted measure is intended to exclude those apprentices with some prior attainment.
	From August 2012, Ministers have decided that an apprenticeship must last at least 12 months for under 19s and for adults as well unless prior learning is recorded and funding reduced accordingly. This is to ensure that every apprenticeship involves sufficient new learning and opportunities to embed new skills.
	
		
			 Table 1: Adjusted average length of stay (months) by region, 2009/10 to 2011/12 
			  Average (adjusted) duration 
			 Region 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 
			 North East 16 13 12 
			 North West 16 14 13 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 15 14 13 
			 East Midlands 15 14 13 
			 West Midlands 14 13 12 
			 East of England 15 14 13 
			 London 14 13 12 
			 South East 15 14 13 
			 South West 15 14 13 
			 Other 19 18 15 
			 Total 15 13 13 
			 Notes: 1. Adjusted average length of stay is based on the actual end date of the apprenticeship as recorded in the ILR; it only includes those achievements within the academic year that were fully funded. 2. Regions are based on the home postcode of the apprentice. Source: Individualised Learner Record

Apprentices: Kingston upon Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many apprenticeships have been created in (a) Hull and (b) Kingston upon Hull North constituency in each quarter since Q4 2011.

Matthew Hancock: Table 1 shows the number of Apprenticeship programme starts in Kingston upon Hull local education authority and Kingston upon Hull North parliamentary constituency by quarter. Final data are shown for the 2010/11 and 2011/12 academic years and provisional data are shown for the first quarter of the 2012/13 academic year.
	Provisional data for the 2012/13 academic year provide an early view of performance in the first quarter and will change as further data returns are received from further education colleges and providers. They should not be directly compared with final year data for the comparable period from previous years. Figures for 2012/13 will be finalised in January 2014.
	
		
			 Table 1: Apprenticeship programme starts by geography and quarter, 2010/11 to 2012/13 (provisional) 
			  2010/11 (final) 2011/12 (final) 2012/13 (provisional) 
			  Quarter 4 Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4 Quarter 1 
			 Kingston upon Hull local education authority 960 1,030 780 680 950 940 
			 Kingston upon Hull North parliamentary constituency 320 330 280 240 330 280 
			 Notes: 1. All figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Geographic breakdowns are based upon the home postcode of the learner. 3. Figures are based on the geographic boundaries as of May 2010. 4. Provisional data for 2012/13 should not be directly compared with data for earlier years. 5. Quarter 1—1 August to 31 October; Quarter 2—1 November to 31 January; Quarter 3—1 February to 30 April; Quarter 4—1 May to 31 July. Source: Individualised Learner Record

British Antarctic Survey

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 25 February 2013, Official Report, column 26W, on medals, how many people are currently employed by the British Antarctic Survey; and how many of those employees are bearers of the Polar Medal.

David Willetts: As at 31 December 2012, there are 548 staff employed by the British Antarctic Survey of which 49 are recipients of the Polar Medal.

Consumer Information

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 10 January 2013, Official Report, column 450W, on consumer information, when he expects the working groups operating in relation to the Midata initiative to make recommendations; whether such recommendations will be published; and if he will place a copy of any recommendations in the Library.

Jo Swinson: As set out in the earlier answer we anticipate that the working groups will report and make their recommendations in the summer. Those recommendations will be considered by the Midata Strategy Board and be publicly available. A copy will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Consumers: Expenditure

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much and what proportion each decile of the UK population contributed to consumer spending in the UK in each year for which data is available.

Jo Swinson: The Department does not collect this type of information. The Office for National Statistics publishes 'Family Spending' which contains data on household expenditure of decile groups. The latest edition is available on their website at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/family-spending/family-spending/family-spending-2012-edition/index.html

Engineering

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent estimate his Department has made of the shortfall of qualified staff in the engineering sector.

David Willetts: There is a substantial demand for engineers who contribute widely to the UK economy. Our recent work on engineering skills has found a complex picture in terms of both supply and demand. The Institute of Engineering and Technology found in their Skills and Demand in Industry survey 2012 that 29% of employers did not expect to be able to recruit the qualified engineers, IT staff and technicians they require. Further, the National Employer Skills Survey 2011 shows establishments in engineering sectors are more likely to report skill shortage vacancies with between 5% and 8% reporting skill shortage vacancies depending on sector. This compares to 3% of all establishments reporting skill shortage vacancies.
	Regarding the supply of professional engineers, the UK produces around 22,000 graduate engineers per year. Significant supply also comes from those with non-engineering qualifications, for example from maths and science graduates, and the UK produces around 89,000 science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduates annually. Finally inward migration of engineers to the UK also contributes to the available skills pool. These factors mean forecasts of supply are built on a number of assumptions.
	The Government has listened to industry and recognises the chronic supply issues they have reported. The most significant issue being the difficulty in recruiting staff with specific types of engineering skills, for example there is great demand in the aerospace sector for staff with experience in composite materials reflecting as this is relatively new type of skill. By continuing to work closely with industry and the engineering institutions we aim to encourage more young people to consider careers in engineering and transform the outdated and negative image of careers in engineering. We are also working to address specific engineering skills shortages, for example 500 new Aeronautics MSc places are to be jointly funded by Government and industry to the tune of £6 million. Our commitment to nurturing the right engineering skills in the UK was demonstrated at the Manufacturing Summit on 28 February 2013. The Government is also allocating up to £135 million over the current spending review period to improve science and mathematics education in schools and recognises the importance of engineering in higher education where it is given the status of a strategically important subject and funded accordingly.

Engineering

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment his Department has made of how a shortfall of qualified staff in the engineering sector may affect overall economic growth.

David Willetts: The UK is one of the world's largest manufacturers and manufacturing contributes £150 billion pa to UK economy alone. Engineers also make substantial contributions to innovation and competitiveness in many sectors. Innovative firms employ proportionately more science, engineering and technology graduates (SET forms 5.7% of work force in innovation active small firms versus 1.6% in non-innovation active small firms(1)).
	Engineers are highly valued in the economy as shown by a recent ONS report(2). Graduates with degrees in mathematical sciences, engineering, technology and architecture had the second highest hourly wage rates of any occupation after medicine and dentistry.
	The effect of the supply of engineering skills on growth in the UK economy is difficult to estimate given the complexity of the supply picture. For instance the needs of the economy for specific engineering skills that are in short supply has been partly furnished by inward migration.
	The Government recognises the need to increase the supply of engineers across the economy. My colleagues in DFE are taking measures to increase the uptake of maths and science qualifications in schools, the essential first step to produce more engineers. Working with industry we have been able to significantly increase the numbers of engineering apprenticeship starts (up 21% in the last year to 59,480), which should provide many of the skilled technicians the economy requires. Investing in engineering provision in higher and further education will provide the infrastructure to build the skills of our engineering work force, (for, example in the autumn statement an extra £270 million was announce to be spent on laboratories, classrooms and other facilities in our further education colleges). We also recognise engineering as a strategically important subject in higher education and fund engineering courses accordingly.
	(1) Community Innovation Survey 2010
	(2) Office for National Statistics 'Graduates in the Labour Market—2012

Enterprise Capital Funds

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many firms he estimates to benefit from new investment by Enterprise Capital Funds in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14, (c) 2014-15 and (d) 2015-16.

Michael Fallon: 18 companies received new investment from Enterprise Capital Funds and 90 investments totalling £29.5 million were made in the first three quarters of 2012-13. Estimates are not made for the number of companies receiving new investment in future years, but this Government committed a further £200 million to Enterprise Capital Funds in the Spending Review and total investor commitment now stands at £396 million across 12 funds.

EU Grants and Loans

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 25 February 2013, Official Report, column 293W, on EU Grants and Loans, when a decision will be made on the criteria to be used for the allocation of EU transition funding to regions of the UK; and what consultation process will be used when deciding this criteria.

Michael Fallon: The Government will make final decisions on allocations of EU transition funding and other EU funds only after there is an agreement between the European Parliament and member states on the EU Budget 2014-20. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is in regular contact with other relevant Government Departments and the devolved Administrations on this issue.

Housework

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what data his Department holds on the breakdown of individual domestic chores in the home.

Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills does not collect or hold any official information on the breakdown of individual domestic chores in the home.

Kazakhstan

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which individuals from which companies accompanied the Minister of State for Business and Enterprise on his visit to Kazakhstan in February 2012.

Michael Fallon: I was not accompanied by a business delegation on my visit to Kazakhstan in February 2012. The aims of the visit were to promote the UK as the partner of choice for business in Kazakhstan—particularly for renewable energy sources and new technologies. I also wanted to showcase UK expertise across many other key sectors including the Oil and Gas Supply Chain, Mining, Financial Services, Education and Training, and to address a number of market access issues.
	Kazakhstan has a number of forthcoming events where highlighting UK expertise, demonstrated by the delivery of a safe and successful Olympic games, can help secure additional opportunities, these include Expo 2017 Astana, the 2017 World Student Games and the Kazakhstani bid for the Winter Olympics in 2022.

Limited Liability: Yorkshire and the Humber

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many limited liability companies have been declared insolvent in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber in each of the last 10 years.

Michael Fallon: Companies House estimates that the number of companies declared insolvent in the Brigg and Goole constituency and Yorkshire and the Humber in each of the last 10 years is as follows:
	
		
			  Briggs and Goole constituency Yorkshire and the Humber 
			 2004 3 206 
			 2005 3 401 
			 2006 5 755 
			 2007 18 1,642 
			 2008 73 2,790 
			 2009 100 3,803 
			 2010 112 3,106 
			 2011 136 2,928 
			 2012 134 2,963 
			 2013 (1)15 (1)506 
			 (1) As at 5 March 2013. 
		
	
	These figures are estimates because Companies House's data is drawn from postcode areas, which can cross regional and constituency boundaries.

New Businesses: Young People

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many delivery partners have received formal offers under the Start-Up Loans scheme to date.

Michael Fallon: Currently 44 delivery partners have signed offer letters to deliver the Start-Up Loans scheme to date.

New Businesses: Young People

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills by what date he expects 30,000 loans to be made under the Start-Up Loans scheme.

Michael Fallon: The Start-Up Loans programme is demand-led, so volume of lending will be dependent on how many young people see entrepreneurialism as a viable opportunity for employment.
	Through the Start-Up Loans programme, the Government supports those with that ambition. Currently in its pilot phase, the programme is now consistently funding around 180-200 loans per week. At that rate, and subject to budget, 30,000 loans should be achieved sometime in 2015/16.
	We will continue to monitor demand as the programme rolls out fully from April 2013.

Overseas Students

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many (a) India-domiciled, (b) China-domiciled, (c) Arab states-domiciled, (d) Brazil-domiciled and (e) South Africa-domiciled (i) undergraduate and (ii) postgraduate students were studying at English higher education institutions in (A) 2010-11, (B) 2011-12 and (C) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on students at UK higher education institutions (HEIs). Information on the number of enrolments at English HEIs by level of study and domicile for the academic years 2010/11 to 2011/12 is provided in the table.
	Information for the academic year 2012/13 will become available from the Higher Education Statistics Agency in January 2014.
	
		
			 Enrolments by level of study and domicile(1), English higher education institutions, academic years 2010/11 to 2011/12 
			  2010/11 2011/12 
			 Domicile Postgraduate Undergraduate Postgraduate Undergraduate 
			 India 24,000 6,890 17,405 6,625 
			 China(2) 29,445 37,295 36,045 40,570 
			 Arab — — — — 
			 States(3) 13,665 9,790 13,025 10,315 
			 Brazil 865 325 865 335 
			 South Africa 660 450 625 425 
			 (1 )Domicile refers to a student's permanent or home address prior to entry to their course. (2 )China includes the Special Administrative Regions of China; Honk Kong and Macao (3 )Arab States include 22 member states http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/worldwide/arab-states/ Note: Figures are based on a HESA standard registration population and have been rounded up or down to the nearest five, so components may not sum to totals. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Record.

Postgraduate Education

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many UK-domiciled first year postgraduates in each subject area were enrolled at English higher education institutions in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on students at UK higher education institutions (HEIs). Information on the number of UK-domiciled postgraduates entering English HEIs by subject area of study for the academic years 2010/11 to 2011/12 is provided in the table.
	Information for the academic year 2012/13 will become available from the Higher Education Statistics Agency in January 2014.
	
		
			 UK-domiciled(1) postgraduate entrants by subject area(2) of study, English higher education institutions, academic years 2010/11 to 2011/12 
			 Subject area 2010/11 2011/12 
			 Medicine and dentistry 5,280 5,485 
			 Subjects allied to medicine 18,530 20,710 
			 Biological sciences 9,695 9,920 
			 Veterinary science 285 220 
			 Agriculture and related subjects 610 850 
			 Physical sciences 4,720 4,570 
			 Mathematical sciences 1,250 1,085 
			 Computer science 3,065 2,905 
			 Engineering and technology 5,935 6,040 
			 Architecture, building and planning 4,150 4,155 
			 Social studies 14,280 14,370 
		
	
	
		
			 Law 5,540 5,990 
			 Business and administrative studies 18,375 17,335 
			 Mass communications and documentation 2,745 2,830 
			 Languages 4,580 4,535 
			 Historical and philosophical studies 5,290 5,510 
			 Creative arts and design 5,995 6,195 
			 Education 59,650 43,015 
			 Combined 1,240 885 
			 Total 171,210 156,600 
			 (1) Domicile refers to a student's permanent or home address prior to entry to their course. (2) Subject information is shown as full person equivalents (FPEs) in the table. FPEs are derived by splitting student instances between the different subjects that make up their course aim. Note: Figures are based on a HESA standard registration population and have been rounded up or down to the nearest five, so components may not sum to totals. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Record.

Public Sector: Disclosure of Information

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many (a) funding proposals and (b) expressions of interest from (i) Government departments, (ii) Government agencies and (iii) local authorities have been made to the Data Strategy Board Breakthrough Fund to date.

Matthew Hancock: Details of the number of funding proposals and expressions of interest received for the Data Strategy Board Breakthrough Fund since it was announced on 12 December 2012 are provided in the following table:
	
		
			  Number of funding proposals received Number of expressions of interest received 
			 Government Departments 0 3 
			 Government agencies 0 2 
			 Local authorities (including the Local Government Association) 5 12

Regional Growth Fund

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many individual awards from Round 2 of the Regional Growth Fund have not yet drawn down funds; and what the monetary value is of each such award.

Michael Fallon: 133 Round 2 awards for a total of £726.6 million have been finalised. Payments totalling £358 million have been made in support of 79 bids. The remaining 54 awards will be drawn between now and March 2015 when they have achieved the necessary investment and employment payment triggers specified in the offer letter.

Staff

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many staff his Department employed in each of the past five years; how many such staff were employed in London; how many such staff were employed in other regions of England; how many posts moved from London to these regions; and what steps he is taking to move his staff to regional offices.

Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) was formed through a machinery of government change that occurred in June 2009. The Department was created by merging the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). Therefore only information from this date can be used.
	The following table shows the number of staff employed in London and other regions over the last five years:
	
		
			  London Other Total 
			 December 2009 3,070 691 3,761 
			 March 2010 3,058 605 3,663 
			 March 2011 2,702 579 3,281 
			 March 2012 2,442 587 3,029 
			 February 2013 2,536 606 3,142 
		
	
	It is not known now many posts moved from London to other regions. To obtain this information would result in disproportionate costs.
	The Department is not considering relocating staff out of central London in the short to medium term. BIS is reducing the number of buildings leased by the Department and its partner organisations across the country and is on course to save £84 million by March 2015. We constantly look at our property portfolio to ensure that all buildings are representing value for money.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Bahamas

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received from the Bahamian Government about reopening the UK visa mission.

Mark Simmonds: The UK Border Agency has responsibility for issuing UK visas overseas. However I can confirm that the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) has to date not received any representations from the Bahamian Government about reopening the UK visa mission in the Bahamas.

Bahrain

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his Bahraini counterpart on international legal protections against statelessness.

Alistair Burt: I discussed developments in Bahrain with the Bahraini Foreign Minister on 18 February 2013, and the Deputy Prime Minister on 20 February 2013.
	We have made clear to the Bahraini Government our view that that revocation of citizenship which leaves individuals stateless is a negative step, and ultimately a barrier towards reconciliation.
	The UK's position is set out in Section 40 of the British Nationality Act 1981 which allows the Secretary of State to deprive a person of citizenship status, if she is satisfied that deprivation is conducive to the public good and where in doing so would not leave that person stateless.

Bahrain

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to his Bahraini counterpart on the conviction and imprisonment of Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, Ebrahim Sharif and 11 other activists and human rights defenders.

Alistair Burt: Mr Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, Mr Ebrahim Sharif and 11 other activists have been convicted of charges including taking part in illegal gatherings and inciting violence to overthrow the Government. We have consistently urged the authorities to ensure that any charges against them should be based on strong, credible evidence that will stand up to scrutiny.
	In January, I expressed my dismay at the decision of the Bahraini Cassation Court to uphold the sentences of these 13 activists. At the time they were sentenced, reports which were acknowledged by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry suggested that some had been abused in detention, denied access to legal counsel and coerced into confessing.
	I have frequently stressed the need for Bahrain to meet all its human rights obligations; and we continue to urge the Government to ensure that civil liberties are protected, particularly where severe penalties are imposed. I spoke to both the Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Bahrain in February, to reiterate the UK's views.

British Overseas Territories

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many Government Ministers have visited one or more of the UK Overseas Territories in the life of this Parliament.

Mark Simmonds: So far in this Parliament, 12 Ministers have visited one or more Overseas Territory, including Ministers from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Ministry of Defence, Department for Business Innovation and Skills, the Department for International Development and the Attorney-General's Office.

Burma

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many meetings officials in his Department have had with Shell where Burma was discussed since May 2010.

Hugo Swire: According to available records, officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have discussed Burma with representatives from Shell at least five times since May 2010.
	Since the suspension of EU sanctions in April 2012, the British Government has made a commitment to promoting responsible trade and investment in support of Burma's democratic reform process. The British Government urges all UK companies entering Burma to abide by international standards of corporate governance and social and environmental responsibility. In particular, this means adhering to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and the UN's Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Burma

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on how many child soldiers remain in the Burmese army.

Hugo Swire: The British Government notes the recent report by Child Soldiers International, published in February 2013, which estimates that there are 5,000 child soldiers in the Burmese army. However, as the report notes, the numbers in border guard forces and in ethnic armed groups are difficult to estimate due to limited access to these groups.
	In July 2012, the UN and the Burmese Government announced a joint action plan to eliminate the recruitment and use of child soldiers. The British Government welcomed this plan, but noted that implementation was vital to ensure that the practice of recruiting child soldiers is eradicated. I raised our concerns with Burmese Defence Minister, Lt Gen Wai Lwin, during my visit to Burma on 12 to 15 December 2012. The appointment of a new Defence Attaché to Burma, who was formally accredited on 22 February 2013, will be a further opportunity to press the Burmese military to introduce and adopt measures which prevent recruitment of underage soldiers in the future.

Burma

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on whether there has been a significant increase in confiscation of land from farmers and villagers by the Burmese Government in the last two years; and whether he has made representations on this issue to his Burmese counterpart.

Hugo Swire: We are aware of reports in February of land confiscation in Burma. During his visit to Burma in February, Mr Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Burma, noted the potential for development projects to have a detrimental effect on the human rights of the people of Burma through land confiscation and forced eviction.
	Neither the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), nor I have to date raised the specific issue of land confiscation with the Burmese Government. But since the suspension of EU sanctions in April 2012, the British Government has encouraged responsible trade and investment in support of Burma's democratic reform process. The British Government has provided funds to support the implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, through which civil society and community leaders engaged in decisions over investments in the natural resources and extractives sectors.

Burma

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Walsall South of 31 January 2013, Official Report, column 945W, on Burma, what response has been received from the Government's call for an increase in the level of humanitarian aid to affected communities.

Alan Duncan: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for International Development.
	As of January 2013 nearly $36 million of humanitarian assistance had been provided to the victims of violence in Rakhine, including the UK's contribution of £2 million. The UK continues to call on other donors to increase their contribution.

Burma

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Walsall South of 31 January 2013, Official Report, column 945W, on Burma, what steps he is taking to ensure that the humanitarian assistance being provided by the Government to people displaced in Rakhine State, will not be misused.

Alan Duncan: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for International Development.
	DFID is funding a consortium of international non-governmental organisations to provide humanitarian assistance to people displaced in Rakhine State. Before agreeing funding, the financial management and audit systems of the consortium was fully assessed to safeguard against improper use of funding. The outcome of DFID's funding is regularly monitored by our staff in Burma, including by visits to Rakhine.

Israel

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he plans to take to encourage Israel to stop detention of Palestinian prisoners inside Israel.

Alistair Burt: We have regularly raised our concerns with the Israeli authorities about the treatment of Palestinian detainees, including their detention within Israel in violation of international humanitarian law. These issues have been raised with the Israeli Attorney General, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Military Advocate General.

Israel

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he plans to take steps against UK directors of G4 over the transfer of Palestinian prisoners to Israeli persons.

Alistair Burt: The Government is aware of G4S's activities in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. International law does not impose obligations on corporations. For a company to operate in the Israeli settlements or to provide equipment to Israeli prisons is not, per se, contrary to UK law. However, we have made clear to G4S our position on the detention of Palestinian prisoners within Israel prisons and our wider concerns about Israel's treatment of Palestinian detainees to G4S.

Israel

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Israeli authorities about night-time arrests of children.

Alistair Burt: We have raised with the Israeli authorities our concerns about the treatment of Palestinian child detainees, including the issue of night-time arrests, on a number of occasions. During his visit to Israel in November 2012, the Attorney-General, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Beaconsfield (Mr Grieve), discussed the issue with his Israeli counterpart, Yehuda Weinstein, and other senior interlocutors. Mr Weinstein agreed to further talks between UK and British legal experts on the subject. In addition, Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials discussed this with a senior Israeli legal delegation in London on 31 January.

Israel

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Israeli authorities about recording of police interviews with children.

Alistair Burt: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 11 February 2013, Official Report, column 490W.

Israel

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Israeli authorities that Palestinian children should not be blindfolded or hooded on arrest.

Alistair Burt: We have raised with the Israeli authorities our concerns about the treatment of Palestinian child detainees, including the issues of hooding and shackling, on a number of occasions. We consider such practices to be wrong. During his visit to Israel in November 2012, the Attorney-General, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Beaconsfield (Mr Grieve), discussed our concerns with his Israeli counterpart, Yehuda Weinstein, and other senior interlocutors. Mr Weinstein agreed to further talks between UK and British legal experts on the subject, in addition, Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials discussed these with a senior Israeli legal delegation in London on 31 January.

Israel

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Israeli authorities about incorrect origin declarations for goods imported under the EU-Israel Agreement.

Alistair Burt: We have not raised this specific issue with the Israeli authorities. However, we support the EU's work with Israel on the review of the postal code system for Israeli goods.
	More broadly, we continue to work to take forward the commitment made by EU Foreign Ministers at the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on 14 May 2012, reaffirmed on 12 December 2012, to fully and effectively implement existing EU legislation and the bilateral arrangements applicable to settlement products. This includes working with the EU to ensure that settlement produce does not enter the EU duty-free under the EU-lsrael Association Agreement, and that settlement products are not incorrectly labelled as Israeli produce, in violation of EU consumer protection regulations.

Israel

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will take steps to limit the territorial competence of EU trade agreements to Israel's 1967 borders.

Alistair Burt: The issue of the territorial competence of EU trade agreements with Israel is a subject of active discussion with our EU partners. EU Foreign Ministers, in Conclusions agreed on 10 December 2012, expressed the EU's commitment to ensure that, in line with international law, all agreements between the State of Israel and the EU must unequivocally and explicitly indicate their inapplicability to the territories occupied by Israel in 1967, namely the Golan Heights, the West Bank including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.
	EU Foreign Ministers also reiterated their commitment to ensure continued, full and effective implementation of existing EU legislation and bilateral arrangements applicable to settlement products. We continue to work with EU partners to take this forward.

Israel

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will review arms export licences to Israel.

Alistair Burt: The Government has no plans to review existing arms export licences to Israel at the present time. The UK maintains a rigorous and transparent arms export control system, whereby all applications are assessed on a case by case basis, against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. This includes assessing the risk of exports being used for internal repression, to provoke or prolong armed conflicts, or aggravate existing tensions or conflict in the country of final destination. We apply these criteria rigorously, including with respect to Israel. We refuse licences for any arms exports to Israel which we assess would be inconsistent with the criteria.

Libya

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of the persecution and torture of Christians in Libya and limitations on the possession and sale of Bibles; and what representations he has made to the Libyan Government on this matter.

Alistair Burt: The Government is aware of reports concerning the detention of a number of Christians in Libya and has also received representations from non-governmental organisations about the issue. The British embassy in Tripoli, along with international partners there, are monitoring developments closely. During my visit to Libya in December, I met the Libyan Justice Minister and personally underlined the importance of respecting human rights, in particular the right to freedom of religion or belief. While we do speak out against violence against Christians in particular, our approach is generally to stress the importance of rule of law and human rights for all. HMG consistently and unreservedly condemns torture and we are determined to combat it wherever and whenever it occurs.

Middle East

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to encourage the opening of the Rafah crossing for humanitarian supplies.

Alistair Burt: We have repeatedly urged Israel to ease the restrictions on movement of goods and people to and from Gaza, including humanitarian supplies. We support the ongoing talks in Cairo, brokered by Egypt, which provide an important opportunity to resolve the fundamental problems of Gaza, including achieving more open access to and from Gaza for people and goods, and an end to the smuggling of weapons.

Middle East

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Israeli Government about civilian casualties in Gaza.

Alistair Burt: The Government has repeatedly called on Israel to observe international humanitarian law and avoid civilian casualties in Gaza, including during the conflict last November.
	We have also made clear to Israel our long-standing concerns about the manner in which the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) polices the buffer zone between Israel and Gaza. In the context of recent cases of Palestinian civilians killed by the IDF in both Gaza and the West Bank, officials from our embassy in Tel Aviv have reiterated our concerns over the IDF's use of live ammunition with both the Israeli Ministry of Defence and National Security Council.

Middle East

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of civilian casualties in the recent outbreak of hostilities between Israel and Gaza.

Alistair Burt: We received regular reports from our missions in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem during the recent Gaza conflict, drawing on local reporting and wide ranging contacts. We understand that 158 Palestinians and six Israelis were killed during the conflict.

Occupied Territories

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made about the construction of a wall around the village of Al Walaja.

Alistair Burt: The British Government has repeatedly made clear to the Israeli authorities our position that the separation barrier, if built, should be constructed on the Green Line and that where it is constructed on the Palestinian side of that border, it is illegal under international law.
	I visited the village of Al Walaja in January 2011 and saw for myself the effects the construction of the Israeli separation barrier was having on this village. The barrier means that the village will lose direct access to its agricultural lands, as well as obstructing movement and access for communities in the vicinity, affecting their ability to access schooling and health care facilities.
	The Department for International Development also provide funding for the Norwegian Refugee Council to provide legal support for the communities affected by the route of the barrier.

Occupied Territories

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he plans to take to encourage Israel to end settlement building.

Alistair Burt: The UK position on Israeli settlements is clear: they are illegal under international law, an obstacle to peace and make a two-state solution, with Jerusalem as a shared capital, harder to achieve. We consistently urge the Israeli authorities to cease all settlement building and to remove illegal outposts, as required under international law and in fulfilment of Israel's obligations under the Roadmap.

Occupied Territories

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to encourage Israel to return Palestinian land to its owners.

Alistair Burt: We will continue to argue for a just outcome for all Palestinians affected by illegal settlement construction and the confiscation of land due to the Separation Barrier. We regularly make representations on these issues to the Government of Israel and will continue to do so. The Department for International Development also provides funding to the Norwegian Refugee Council to provide legal support to communities threatened with confiscation.

Occupied Territories

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he plans to take to encourage Israel to move the separation barrier back to the Green Line.

Alistair Burt: The Government continues to make clear to Israel the UK's position that the Separation Barrier, if built, should only be constructed on the Green Line and that where it is constructed on the Palestinian side of that border, it is illegal under international law.

Occupied Territories

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to persuade Israel to stop the demolition of Palestinian homes.

Alistair Burt: UK Ministers and officials have repeatedly made clear to the Israeli authorities our serious concern at the increase in demolitions of Palestinian properties in area C of the west bank and in East Jerusalem. We view such demolitions and evictions as causing unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians, as harmful to the peace process and, in all but the most limited circumstances, as contrary to international humanitarian law.

Occupied Territories

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Israeli authorities over the construction of a wall around the village of Al Walaja.

Alistair Burt: The British Government has repeatedly made clear to the Israeli authorities our position that the Separation Barrier, if built, should be constructed on the Green Line and that where it is constructed on the Palestinian side of that border, it is illegal under international law.
	I visited the village of Al Walaja in January 2011 and saw for myself the effects the construction of the Israeli Separation Barrier was having on this village. The barrier means that the village will lose direct access to its agricultural lands, as well as obstructing movement and access for communities in the vicinity, affecting their ability to access schooling and health care facilities.
	The Department for International Development also provide funding for the Norwegian Refugee Council to provide legal support for the communities affected by the route of the barrier, including in Al Walaja.

Occupied Territories

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Israeli authorities over the repeated demolitions of the Beit Arabiya house in Anata in the West Bank.

Alistair Burt: The Government has raised with the Israeli authorities, including the Coordinator for Government Authorities in the Territories, our concern at the repeated demolition of the Beit Arabiya house in the West Bank village of Anata and other similar demolitions.
	We consider these demolitions to be contrary to Israel's obligations under international humanitarian law, harmful to the peace process, as well as causing unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians.

Occupied Territories

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he plans to take to stop house demolitions in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Alistair Burt: We have repeatedly made clear to the Israeli authorities our serious concern at the increase in demolitions of Palestinian properties in Area C of the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. We view such demolitions and evictions as causing unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians, as harmful to the peace process and, in all but the most limited circumstances, as contrary to international humanitarian law.

Occupied Territories

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Israeli Government on compensation for houses demolished in Gaza.

Alistair Burt: We have repeatedly emphasised to the Israeli authorities the need to abide by its obligations under international humanitarian law with respect to Gaza, including during the recent Gaza conflict in November 2012. We have not specifically discussed the issue of compensation.

Occupied Territories

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of houses demolished in the occupied West Bank since 1967.

Alistair Burt: According to the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions, approximately 27,000 Palestinian homes and other structures have been demolished since 1967 in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
	We have repeatedly made clear to the Israeli authorities our serious concern at demolitions of Palestinian properties in Area C of the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. We view such demolitions and evictions as causing unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians, as harmful to the peace process and, in all but the most limited circumstances, as contrary to international humanitarian law.

Occupied Territories

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he plans to take in response to demolitions in Silwan in East Jerusalem.

Alistair Burt: We have raised our concerns about the threatened and actual demolition of Palestinian buildings in Silwan, East Jerusalem, with the Israeli Ministry of Interior, the Israeli ambassador in London and the Municipality of Jerusalem. We are urging Israel to desist from the demolitions and evictions, which we consider to be contrary to Israel's obligations under international humanitarian law; harmful to the peace process; as well as causing unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians.

Occupied Territories

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of houses demolished in the occupied west bank since 1967.

Alistair Burt: According to the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions approximately 27,000 Palestinian homes and other structures have been demolished since 1967 in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
	We have repeatedly made clear to the Israeli authorities our serious concern at demolitions of Palestinian properties in area C of the west bank and in East Jerusalem. We view such demolitions and evictions as causing unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians, as harmful to the peace process and, in all but the most limited circumstances, as contrary to international humanitarian law.

Occupied Territories

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he plans to take in response to demolitions in Silwan in East Jerusalem.

Alistair Burt: We have raised our concerns about the threatened and actual demolition of Palestinian buildings in Silwan, East Jerusalem, with the Israeli Ministry of Interior, the Israeli ambassador in London and the Municipality of Jerusalem.
	We are urging Israel to desist from the demolitions and evictions, which we consider to be contrary to Israel's obligations under international humanitarian law, harmful to the peace process, as well as causing unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians.

Occupied Territories

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he plans to take to stop house demolitions in East Jerusalem and the west bank.

Alistair Burt: We have repeatedly made clear to the Israeli authorities our serious concern at the increase in demolitions of Palestinian properties in area C of the west bank and in East Jerusalem. We view such demolitions and evictions as causing unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians, as harmful to the peace process and, in all but the most limited circumstances, as contrary to international humanitarian law.

Occupied Territories

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will commission research on the legality of importing goods produced in Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories to the UK.

Alistair Burt: We have no plans to commission research on the importing of produce from Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories to the UK.
	We continue to work to take forward the commitment made by EU Foreign Ministers at the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on 14 May 2012, reaffirmed on 12 December 2012, to fully and effectively implement existing EU legislation and the bilateral arrangements applicable to settlement products. There are, however, no plans to introduce domestic or European legislation to ban the import of settlement products.

Occupied Territories

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the Irish Government's call for an EU-wide ban on imports from Israeli settlements.

Alistair Burt: The issue of settlement produce is a subject of active discussion with the European Commission and our EU partners. We continue to work to take forward the commitment made by EU Foreign Ministers at the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on 14 May 2012 to fully and effectively implement existing EU legislation and the bilateral arrangements applicable to settlement products. This includes working with the EU to ensure that settlement produce does not enter the EU duty-free under the EU-Israel Association Agreement, and that settlement products are not incorrectly labelled as Israeli produce, in violation of EU consumer protection regulations.
	There are, however, currently no plans for EU or domestic legislation to ban the import of settlement products.

Occupied Territories

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether UK missions in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem purchase settlement goods.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and its posts are obliged to follow UK and EU guidelines when purchasing goods and services from suppliers. These guidelines do not currently differentiate between products emanating from Israel or from the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Occupied Territories

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what legal advice he has sought on whether trade with Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories breaches the UK's obligation under international law.

Alistair Burt: I am not able to comment on legal advice to Ministers.
	However, it is the Government's long-standing view that settlements are illegal under international law. We repeatedly call on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law and regularly raise our profound concerns about Israel's settlement policy. We will continue to press the next Israeli Government to cease all settlement activity.

Occupied Territories

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what advice he gives to tour operators about payments to hotels and bus operators in illegal Israeli settlements.

Alistair Burt: Our position on Israeli settlements is clear: they are illegal under international law and are undermining the possibility of a two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
	We have not been approached for advice by any British company operating tours in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories that include Israeli settlements.

Occupied Territories

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make representations to the European Commission to publish the names of companies mis-stating the origin of goods from illegal Israeli settlements.

Alistair Burt: We continue to work to take forward the commitment made by EU Foreign Ministers at the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on 14 May 2012, reaffirmed on 10 December 2012, to fully and effectively implement existing EU legislation and the bilateral arrangements applicable to settlement products.
	This includes working to ensure that settlement produce does not enter the EU duty-free under the EU-Israel Association Agreement, and that settlement products are not incorrectly labelled as Israeli produce, in violation of EU consumer protection regulations. We will continue to work with the EU and European Commission in this regard. However, we do not have plans to make representations on this specific issue at present.

Occupied Territories

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of whether settlement building by Israel in planning area E1 is compatible with the two-state solution.

Alistair Burt: We condemned the Israeli Government's recent decision to unfreeze planning in the area known as E1. Settlements are illegal under international law, and this plan in particular has the potential to alter the situation on the ground on a scale that threatens the viability of a two state solution. I formally summoned the Israeli ambassador to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 3 December, to make clear the depth of our concerns.
	We will continue to make our concerns about settlements, including planning for the E1 area, clear to the Israeli authorities.

Occupied Territories

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the announcement that houses will be built between Jerusalem and Bethlehem in Gilo;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the announcement that houses will be built between Jerusalem and Bethlehem in Givat Hamatos.

Alistair Burt: The UK's position on Israeli settlements is clear: they are illegal under international law, an obstacle to peace and make a two-state solution, with Jerusalem as a shared capital, harder to achieve.
	The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), and I issued statements in December 2012 condemning approvals for plans to build 1,500 housing units in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Ramat Shlomo, over 3,150 units in Givaat Hamatos and 1,242 units in Mordot Gilo South, as well as the decision to upgrade Ariel college to university status, thereby creating the first university in a settlement illegal under international law.
	We have called on the Israeli authorities to urgently reverse these decisions and take no further steps aimed at expanding or entrenching settlement activity.

Occupied Territories

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the announcement that houses will be built between Jerusalem and Ramallah in Ramat Shlomo.

Alistair Burt: The UK's position on Israeli settlements is clear: they are illegal under international law, an obstacle to peace and make a two-state solution, with Jerusalem as a shared capital, harder to achieve.
	The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) and I issued statements in December 2012 condemning approvals for plans to build 1,500 housing units in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Ramat Shlomo, over 3,150 units in Givaat Hamatos and 1,242 units in Mordot Gilo South, as well as the decision to upgrade Ariel College to university status, thereby creating the first university in a settlement illegal under international law.
	We have called on the Israeli authorities to urgently reverse these decisions and take no further steps aimed at expanding or entrenching settlement activity.

Palestinians

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure that UK companies conform to the International Court of Justice's ruling that the UK is under an obligation not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by the construction of the security barrier inside Palestine's borders.

Alistair Burt: The UK position on the Separation Barrier is clear: if Israel wished to build the barrier, it should have been built on the 1967 border and where it is constructed on the Palestinian side of that border, it is illegal under international law. The International Court of Justice's ruling, which is an advisory opinion and therefore is not legally binding, concluded that the construction of the Separation Barrier along its chosen route, and its associated regime, and the settlement breach Israel's obligations under international law. We agree with this conclusion and make our position on the Separation Barrier known to any companies or individuals who request our advice.

Sudan

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to end violence in Sudan.

Mark Simmonds: The ongoing conflicts in Sudan continue to cause great suffering to the civilians, particularly in Southern Kordofan. Blue Nile and Darfur. Supporting efforts to end these conflicts is central to our policy in Sudan, and we are working closely with the African Union, and within the UN Security Council to ensure a united international effort to this end.
	In particular, we are urging the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North to enter into political talks without preconditions, with the aim of agreeing an immediate cessation of hostilities, and full, independent humanitarian access to all civilians in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile. In Darfur, we are pressing the Government of Sudan to implement all its commitments in the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur, signed in 2011, which we see as a basis for reaching a durable, just, comprehensive and inclusive solution to the ongoing conflict. We are urging other armed groups to enter into the peace process.
	We will also continue to encourage the Government of Sudan to start a process of national reform, which takes into account the needs and aspirations of all of the people living within its borders, within an open and democratic framework.